


Call of the Universe

by RangoAteMyBaby (FormallyKnownAsFreya)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Awkward First Times, Bisexual Lance, Biting, Blade of Marmora Keith, Blade of marmora lance, Blowjobs, Bondage, Drama, Emotions, Galra transformation eventually, Gay Keith, Gay Stuff, Groping, Hurt/Comfort, INCREDIBLY SLOW TO UPDATE I'M SORRY GUYS, Intercrural Sex, Kissing, M/M, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Rimming, handjobs, like who blushes this much, lots of fluff, way too much blushing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 09:04:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 177,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10918656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FormallyKnownAsFreya/pseuds/RangoAteMyBaby
Summary: Homesick Lance thinks of all he misses from Earth and seeks solace in the noisy company of his team. But nothing brings him comfort in the quiet loneliness of his bed in the middle of the night. Keith eases his worries with a simple gesture that grows into something more. [Writing began Pre-Season 5]





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pidge is referred to with male pronouns in the beginning of this fic, as that is what Pidge presents herself as.  
> These pronouns will change after the point in which Pidge comes clean and admits to being female.
> 
> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 14, 2017

No one ever talks about how lonely it is being a hero. It sounds cliche’ and selfish but giving it all up to go home doesn’t sound like the worst idea Lance has ever had. The first few days he’s fine and enjoys being a Paladin. Saving the day feels good. And he looks so cool in his armor. But some days, like today, it’s not that great. The high of being a hero wears off and he gets to thinking about things. Places. People. And then all of a sudden he misses them.

His family.

Do they wonder where he went? Did the military spin a story saying they were missing? Abducted? Or even dead?

That last thought sickens him and provides him with an image of his mom ill with grief. Her looking at the screen of the news station with tears in her eyes. The rest of his family holding her tight so she doesn’t shake apart in sorrow. All of them thinking Lance is dead somewhere without even a body to mourn over. No funeral. No closure. Nothing. He shakes the thought, not wanting to stew in it too long.

“I’m not dead,” he insists with a sigh. If only he could tell his mother that somehow. He'll have to ask Coran if it’s possible to send a message. They need to know.

Days like this, when he misses the sounds of his family, he tries to be around his team as much as possible. To be around their noise. To mimic being back at the academy or being home on Varadero beach. So he makes the rounds, looking for places where ‘quiet’ is impossible.

He cracks as many jokes as possible while Pidge and Hunk work on tech in the main hanger. But their talk gets boring after a while and eventually they stop talking altogether, too focused on their work to speak. So he leaves and checks in with Shiro but he’s busy discussing tactics with Allura. They invite him to join but he declines rapidly. He hated studying back home and that wasn’t about to change just because they were heroes now. And Coran only wants him to clean and manages to rope him into it for nearly an hour before he can break away. Last is Keith, but he just spends day in and day out training.

Keith.

Does Keith miss his family, he wonders?

Pidge is searching for his Dad and his brother. Hunk mentions missing his family sometimes and the food from Earth. Shiro seems quite content to spend all his time talking with Allura so he probably doesn’t miss too much.

He supposes if Keith misses anything, no one will know. He never talks about it or much of anything. Does he even have a family to miss? Despite their rivalry that thought makes him feel bad for the red paladin. Everyone has a family, somewhere.

Lance heads into the training deck to find Keith exactly where he expects, working hard at sword practice. He swings at the simple combat dummy, chases after it and blocks more than a few blows. Keith deftly dodges the next blow and kicks out the feet of the dummy so that it topples over. He stomps onto it, pointing the blade at its throat.

Match set.

Lance claps but gives a look that says he isn’t that impressed. When Keith turns to see who’s there he rolls his eyes before setting the next practice duel.

“What do you want?” he asks.

“Nothing, other than to bother you,” Lance admits and sits down at the border of the arena. He then splays out legs and rests his head on the wall. “And maybe take a nap.”

“Can’t you do that somewhere else?” Keith huffs, stretching his arms and cracking his neck. “There are quieter places.”

“If I wanted a quiet place I would be there,” Lance yawns. “Need the noise or I can’t get comfortable. And you’re the most obnoxious person on the ship. Go on, continue being loud.”

“I think you’ve got that reversed,” Keith grumbles to himself. “If anyone has the loudest mouth...it’s you.”

Lance doesn’t hear Keith’s response and instead gets comfortable against the wall, his hands in his lap and his hood up. It isn’t long into Keith’s training before he falls asleep and begins dreaming of home.

*****

Keith does his best to ignore the blue paladin’s presence. He’s always a thorn in someone’s side, whether it's in combat or with his stupid jokes. He swipes at the new combatant that he progressed to the next level. Half the battle he spends running and dodging, not something he prefers. Once he gets a solid stance he goes on the offensive swinging and slashing.

Lance.

Why does he always have to be in someone’s business?

Keith is so used to being on his own that being a part of a team doesn’t come easy but he’s trying. Working together in the lions is one thing but sometimes he feels smothered by the presence of everyone at once. Its why in their off time he prefers to practice on his own. The only person he can rely on when there’s no one else is himself and he had to be ready for the eventual situation where their numbers are split.

“Combat suspended; challenger victorious. Raise difficulty?” the dummy robotically speaks from the floor where Keith’s blow landed him.

Keith eyes the intruder on the edge comfortably sleeping and sighs. At least he’s not making comments about his form but his presence is still distracting. It took him two minutes longer than usual to complete that drill because he kept checking to make sure Lance wasn’t up to something. He wouldn’t put it past Lance to trip him with one of his shots during practice. Lance detracts too much from his training even when he isn’t doing anything.

Ah well, he needs a shower anyway.

“No, end training session,” he sighs and sheathes his bayard.

He debates on whether or not to wake him with a swift kick, to make up for some of his snarky attitude, but stops. Something seems off about the way his head is tilted so Keith leans down to get a look. Upon closer inspection, he blinks in confusion. Under the hood on Lance’s face are tears.

“Geez,” Keith sighs, and runs a hand through his hair.

It isn’t right to kick a guy when he’s down, regardless of the crap he pulls. So instead he reluctantly takes a knee. Keith gives him a shake and slowly Lance begins to wake.

“Sorry, mom, I’ll get...right on it…” he mumbles incoherently and then leans his head onto Keith’s arm before drifting back off.

“Lance,” Keith says firmly and shakes again.

“Hmm...Mom, I--Keith!” Lance bolts awake and looks around. He wipes the tears from his face quickly in embarrassment. “Right...the castle.”

Should Keith say something about the tears or pretend he saw nothing? Lance would’ve jumped on the opportunity for a joke at someone else’s expense but Keith senses this isn’t exactly the time. Joking about missing home would be cruel, even for him. Instead, he stands and offers a hand to help him up.

Lance looks at the hand, suspicious of it, but takes it and is pulled to his feet.

“Thanks,” he mumbles and clears his throat. “So, finished for the day?”

“Yeah,” Keith nods.

“Slack off too much it’ll show,” Lance smirks. “I mean, I’m already the better paladin. Keep falling behind and we’ll have to trade you in for a better model. Not that it would be hard to find someone.”

“Whatever,” Keith rolls his eyes and walks towards the door.

Lance grabs his arm and Keith looks back perturbed.

“Uh, about before? Maybe don’t tell everyone I was…” Lance starts but can’t finish the sentence.

“Crying?” Keith adds on.

“I was trying to make it sound more manly but yeah,” Lance frowns and looks down at the ground. “I just--I miss home and sometimes...it’s a little much when everyone splits off on their own. I’m used to being around people all the time.”

“I get it,” Keith shrugs the hand off his arm.

He doesn’t really. Keith never really spent a lot of time with others other than the occasional fling with other cadets. Even then, he only stayed long enough to satisfy his urges. So he’s used to being on his own. Mother gone before he could remember and his father…Keith sighs. He was used to coming home to an empty room. To silence. It was normal for him.

He’s glad to be away from earth. There’s nothing there for him anyway. Not anymore. Out here, he could be someone. Someone others look up to. A hero. Working on a team is different but he is adjusting to it. It’s nice to be needed. To save people. He’ll never go back if he can help it.

Things are different for the others though, he can see that. Lance especially. He can see it on his dejected face. Coming from a close family to end up across the universe with people who are practically strangers...he needed the familiarity. It’s comforting for him.

“Is that why you came in here to bother me?” Keith asks. “To remind you of home?”

“Maybe,” Lance shrugs, shame flushing his cheeks. “Everyone else is too quiet.”

And nothing feels quite like home to him the way arguing, joking, or laughing did. But if it bothered Keith too much to have him there...

“If you want me to leave you alone,” Lance hints.

The sounds of swords clashing and Keith grunting as he’s getting the shit knocked out of him by a sim combatant lifts Lance’s spirits. Whatever floats his boat, he supposes. If it makes him feel better and he’s not hurting anything, Keith couldn’t care less. So he shakes his head with a sigh.

“As long as you don’t get in my way, do what you want,” Keith huffs. “I don’t care.”

“What? You mean it?” Lance raises a brow with suspicion. “You don’t mind?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Keith asks with a raised brow.

An announcement comes over the castle coms. Hunk declares that dinner is served and that he really out did himself. Lance smirks and starts toward the dining hall but stops when he realizes Keith isn’t coming. The red paladin turns and heads toward the barracks instead.

“You’re not gonna eat?” Lance asks.

“Maybe later,” Keith waves over his shoulder.

*****

For the entirety of the meal no one sees Keith. Nearly everyone comments on it though. Is he sick? When’s the last time he ate? Should they leave something out for him later? He’s probably tired from training and wants to rest. Lance says nothing on the subject and eats his food instead.

He’s pretty sure that Keith prefers to eat in silence and this table is six too many voices. No wonder he isn’t there. Lance shrugs and spoons another delicious mouthful in. He’s missing out on the flavors. Tastes like a luau. It occurs to him that maybe they should set aside a plate for the missing member. Everyone needs to eat if Voltron is to stay strong.

Once everyone finishes and leaves for their rooms Lance stops Hunk from putting all the food away.

“What still hungry? There’s plenty left over and anything that doesn’t get eaten I’ll just eat a midnight when I’m hungry again,” Hunk grins.

“Gonna take some back to my room,” Lance tells him and starts piling up a plate.

“Good! Good! It’s about time someone appreciates my amazing cooking,” Hunk brags with a nod. “I mean, tonight I went a little heavy on that weird pink spice and that orange tuber, but I’m working on it. Oh hey, can you make another plate for Keith?”

“Uh,” Lance eyes the plate he’s scooping onto. That is what he was doing but he didn’t say as much. He didn’t want anyone to think he was suddenly being nice to Keith. “Sure, can I put something weird in it to freak him out?”

“I’m not sure there’s anything weirder than what the food is already made of,” Hunk shrugs.

“Good point,” Lance admits, looking at the concoction of alien foods.

He walks off from the hall with two plates, one more in each hand, full of alien food towards the barracks. He hopes the stuff can keep in case Keith isn’t in his room when he gets there. Upon arrival, Lance kicks the door to knock.

“Room service,” Lance says in a high pitched tone.

The door opens and Keith stands there, unimpressed. His eyes are drawn to the plates of food and then back to Lance’s smirking face.

“What did you do to it?” Keith asks accusingly.

“What? Nothing!” Lance responds, offense taken. He shoulders his way in. “Hunk asked me to bring you a plate.”

“Then why are there two?”

Lance places them both down.

“Well, uh. No reason. Thought maybe after all that work you would be doubly hungry,” Lance explains but quickly changes the subject. “So there you go. Enjoy. I’m gonna head to bed.”

No snarky comment. No jab. And Lance brought him food without sabotaging it. It looks suspicious but nothing bad has come from it yet. He thinks it's a setup for some elaborate joke later but dismisses it. Lance doesn’t look like he’s in one of those moods.

“Thanks,” Keith nods.

“It’s nothing,” Lance shrugs. “You gonna train later?”

“Might.”

“Cool,” Lance nods and makes an awkward exit. “See ya.”

*****

Lance can’t sleep and he’s trying ridiculously hard. He even put on the headphones with ocean noises and elevator music that Coran gave him. It usually helps but tonight his thoughts of home are more persistent than usual. He even starts looking back longingly on his time at the academy.

The Galaxy Garrison.

He remembers the halls of the installation smelled like disinfectant. And the hanger smelled like oil and fuel. The laundry room gave off the standard issue soap smell. Lance always had leftover allotments of that soap, which he sent home for his family to help out. They always gave too much of it, so the requisition officer never cared to call him out on it. He missed that smell, his own clothes were losing the scent.

“Pathetic,” he mumbles while removing the headphones. “I can’t believe I miss that crap.”

He rolls over a couple times, pulls the covers up and then down, but nothing helps. His feet kick off the blankets and swing out to the floor. His feet jitter and tap on the ground, too much energy in them. A walk is what he needs. Or a run. Something to tire him out and make him sleepy enough to forget about home.

Lance starts with a jog to the kitchen. With no one to stop him he gets some strange sweet thing from the freezer, an experimental popsicle Hunk was working on. It tastes great and he throws the remaining stick into the garbage on the way out. After that, he jogs again around the dining room, down the hallways, and up a few flights of stairs.

He passes Pidge sleeping on the computer in the hanger. Shiro’s passed out on the couch in the common room, a hologram report hovering where he’d been reading. Everyone else is in their respective rooms, doing what normal people do after midnight. After a second lap through the halls, he feels it's almost enough to make him sleepy but he perks up at the sound of combat in the practice room as he passes. He makes a quick u-turn and peeks inside while running in place.

Keith is in there, as he expected, with multiple combatants slumped on the floor. His sword and shield raise as he readies for battle. He says something but Lance can’t hear it through the door. Once he finishes speaking the combat dummies all come to life and begin their attack again.

Why not watch for a bit?

He opens the door and walks inside. Keith doesn’t notice, only continues to fight against three dummies. The red paladin seems to be on the losing end of the battle. Lance reaches in his pocket and grips the handle of his own bayard.

“Probably raised the difficulty too high,” Lance says smugly but ends up smiling. “Show off.”

Keith swings and shield bashes a simulation dummy into another. It hardly loses its balance for more than a few seconds but it gives him a chance to swing out at the third one. Only one blow hits but it’s enough to put the entire group on a stronger offensive.

“Shit,” Keith manages, a slash nearly missing his nose as he jumps back.

He keeps backing up with jumps, tumbles, and rolls. Each of their swings getting closer and closer. Before he knows it he’s getting pushed towards a corner, losing his avenue for escape. Keith is seconds from canceling the simulation when he hears gunfire that knocks down one of the dummies. He and the remaining ones look back towards Lance who is posing with a smirking smile.

“The one in front!” Lance calls out and shoots it’s leg, forcing it to a knee.

Keith slams a shield down onto the kneeling bot, making it crumple into a heap. The only one left takes a defensive position and backs up from Keith who is now giving chase. His swings keep missing, the speed too high for him. It was stupid to do this difficulty on his own but with a little help-

“Corale it, Lance!” Keith shouts.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?!” Lance responds and fires more shots at the bot.

It takes a bit and Lance has to run around too before they can get it cornered. He aims his shots high so all it can do is protect its face. Keith sweep kicks it out like the earlier one and swings his sword down on its neck. The dummy’s head comes clean off then goes limp,, ending the simulation

Both of them are panting and looking at each other. Lance’s grin spreads wide and Keith finds it contagious. He smiles too and chuckles while Lance bursts into laughter.

“Allura is going to kill us,” Lance laughs. “Look at that thing.”

“Us? I’ll gonna tell her you did it,” Keith points at him and sheathes his bayard.

“No way,” Lance objects while he sheathes his own, stowing it away in his pocket. “It’s a slice! No way she believes it was me.”

“You’re right. You’re too lazy. No one would believe you were in here practicing, let alone busting dummies,” Keith smirks and picks up his water bottle from out of the arena. He twists the top and swallows big gulps.

“I should be offended,” points Lance. He sighs and reaches out for the water. “But I’m too tired.”

Keith hands it to him after drinking some. Lance gulps down half the bottle and hands it back. They both take a seat near the wall to rest a moment and share the water.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asks after they catch their breath. He passes the bottle over.

“Other than saving your life?” Lance brags proudly and then shakes his head. “Couldn’t sleep. Went for a jog.”

“You’ll run but you won’t train,” Keith drains the last of the water when Lance passes it back. “That makes sense,” he adds.

“It’s what I did at home. I ran on the beach for hours before bed,” Lance admits. “I did it around the academy too until Major Asshat yelled at me for it. Helps me relax.”

Keith readies an off remark, a scathing comment about Lance and his inability to follow orders, but instead he nods. He really has no room to speak. He never followed the Major’s orders either. And when he was antsy he picked fights with other cadets helped him blow off steam. He always got an earful for it and it was far less tame than running around in the middle of the night.

“Sounds legit,” Keith nods.

“Yeah, my sis and my cousins would run with me,” he yawns and stretches his arms. “If they could catch me they got piggybacks when we got home. Then we’d light a fire on the beach and tell stories, eat pizza until we fell asleep. In great big piles. That’s what home is…”

Keith can easily imagine it. Lance losing on purpose so that every kid got a ride on his back. Repeating stories that have been told a hundred times in front of a warm fire on a cool beach. Lance snoring, face first in the sand with pizza cheese on his chin. And grinning the whole damn time.

It must be torture not seeing them and something about that plants a guilty pain in Keith’s gut. Now he feels kind of bad for dismissing his yearnings for home. Could he say something to make him feel better? It’s the least he can do. For Voltron.

“Sorry you miss them,” Keith sighs and scratches his head. “I know it might not be a great substitute but you can think of Voltron as your surrogate family. You know, until you see them again.”

There isn’t a response from Lance so Keith rushes to add a bit more.

“Shiro’s always been like an older brother to me, so he can be that for you too. Allura is sort of the tough Aunt. Coran the weird Uncle. Hunk and Pidge can be your cousins. I can be--” Keith’s breath catches as Lance leans on him. His face flushes a little as he finishes with “--your friend.”

Lance is still quiet, which is the strangest part of this conversation. He usually can’t keep his mouth shut and right now he’d really like to know what he’s thinking. When Keith turns he can see the reason for the silence. Lance is asleep, his head pressed into his shoulder.

Keith lets out a sigh and rubs his forehead. Thank god he’s asleep. He couldn’t explain the look of flushed expectation on his face. He half thinks Lance did this on purpose to fluster him but he dismisses it. Lance isn’t that smart.

But damn if he isn’t cute while he sleeps.

He isn’t snoring like Keith expected. His breathing is barely loud enough to hear. He still maintains a little smile from the memories he was just telling Keith about. Normally that smile is so smug when they talk or argue but now its natural, unforced. His mouth parts a little and Keith stares at it intently. He’s defenseless and downright adorable, the little shit.

Keith’s face flushes a deep scarlet when Lance mumbles something and presses in close, his breath on Keith’s neck.

“Uh, Lance,” Keith stumbles on his words, trying to move away a bit.

“Mmm,” he sighs. “Keith…”

Lance’s face slips off Keith’s shoulder and then plants right into his lap, his body nothing but dead weight. Keith’s heart thrums in his ears and a blush travels up them. If anyone walks in they’ll get the wrong idea. How could he explain how intimately close they were? His only concern now is getting Lance out of his lap before something **_else_ ** unfortunate happens.

Though it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing when he thinks about it. How long since he--no. No time for that. And plus, Lance? He’s not--well, Keith is pretty sure he’s not. Not with the way he flirts with every girl he sees. And to add on to that, he’s not even Keith’s type so he shouldn’t even be entertaining the idea of relieving some tens--no. Nope.

Keith is not looking for company, of any sort. Not right now. And especially not Lance.

Gently, ever so carefully, Keith lifts Lance by his shoulders and slowly props him back up on the wall. He doesn’t lose so much as a wink of sleep. Now he just needs to get Lance back to his room and dump him off in his bed. Then he can forget about this whole thing. He lifts the slumbering paladin and shoulders him.

“Let’s go, Lance,” Keith huffs after hefting him up. “Time for bed.”

“Mmm,” Lance mumbles. “Pizza…”

“Yeah, pizza,” Keith hums. “Pizza blankets. Pizza pillows.”

Lance smiles and drifts back off. What a dope. Animosity at their first meeting aside, they do work together well in combat. If he were like this more often, if he was quiet and calm, if he wasn't constantly joking, then he could easily--Keith shakes his head.

They make it to the room and he lowers Lance to the mattress. The paladin basically melts into the bed and snuggles his pillow. Keith kneels down and throws the blankets over him, shaking his head with a smile. What a baby. He tries to stand to walk away but something tugs on his jacket.

Lance’s vice-like grip holds tight. Keith gives it a gentle tug but nothing gives. He tries harder but Lance tugs back just as hard pulling him into the bed with a yelp.

Keith’s outstretched arms barely catch him in time and hold him over the slumbering body of Lance. He swallows down the butterfly trying to flutter its way out of his throat. This is even closer than before. Keith’s eyes dart down at those parted lips as they breathe. So close.

“Lance,” Keith urgently whispers. “Let go.”

Lance doesn’t hear him, only holds on tighter to that bit of Keith’s jacket. At this point he doesn’t know what to do. He wants to try and tug again but worries. The last attempt only brought them closer. And he’s not that sure if he wants that to happen. It might be best if he just yanks hard out of his hand and rolls off the bed. Lance probably won’t wake up.

“Hmm,” Lance mumbles and smiles. “Beach pile. The best.”

Keith feels his heart hiccup a little at that smile and his will weaken. He doesn’t want to ruin his dream. Carefully he lowers himself so that he’s next to Lance instead of over him. He’ll just have to wait until Lance’s grip wanes before he can pull himself free. There are worse places to be than inches from a hot cohorts face.

How long does he lay there? Fifteen minutes pass. Then another fifteen and still Lance holds tight.

Keith finds ways to keep himself occupied. Examining the complexion before him. Wondering if its a tan from life on the beach or if he’s just naturally that dark. He counts eyelashes on each of Lance’s eyes. The last becomes difficult as the blanket covers one eye. He reaches very carefully and pulls it up to see if they are even.

“63, 64, 65,” he whispered, keeping count. “66, 67, 69. 69 on top...Seriously?”

Now for the bottom lash but then something happens--Lance’s hand finally releases him. He can leave now without waking the idiot up but…Lance’s face has changed to one of worry, his brows raised. Are those...tears again?

“1, 2, 3, 4,” he whispers as he continues.

When he finishes, with 73 lashes on the bottom lash, he sighs and drops the blanket back into place. He should be ready to go, there’s no reason for him to stay other than that lonely frown on Lance’s face. The blue paladin smiled as long as he had contact with someone else, so Keith tentatively reaches over and rubs Lance’s back for few moments. It brings back the smile instantly.

When he stops Lance’s face grows worried again and he shifts closer to Keith until eventually they are a hair’s breadth away from each other. Lance’s hand reaches out and rests on Keith’s chest, gripping at the fabric there.There are worse things than comforting a friend as he sleeps. Teammate, he means. A hot teammate, he adds as he looks down at those pouting lips.

It's late and Keith realizes he’s getting sleepy too. No point in getting up. He can sleep here and just leave in the morning. So he grabs some of the blankets and pulls them over them both to share.

“Mmmm,” Lance mumbles. “Thanks.”

“Sure, whatever,” Keith mumbles back and quickly falls asleep.

****

He slept better than he has in weeks. When Lance wakes he notices that he feels warmer than usual. Comfortably warm, like sleeping next to a campfire. Or the simulation ship after a long day, the compartment smelling like sweaty cadets. He can even smell the soap the academy issues. Where is he? He blinks open to a pale face and dark hair sleeping soundly in front of him making his eyes go wide.

A dream. This is clearly a dream.

He reaches out with his hand, expecting it to go through the apparition but instead it touches solid form. His fingers brush the hair next to Keith’s cheek and it feels surprisingly real. Because it is real. Keith is in his bed.

Why?

He isn’t sure. A nightmare? His room infested with something? Did they sleep together? Like ‘the’ sleeping together? He scratches that last one off as they both still have their clothes on. The training room, he suddenly remembers. He fell asleep in the training room.

Keith must have carried him back.

His cheeks tinge a little at the thought of Keith doing something nice for him when he could have just let him freeze in the training deck. Kind of gallant for someone who usually doesn’t care about anyone but himself, let alone his arch rival. But part of Lance doesn’t mind this extra warmth in his bed though. He’s definitely not going to complain about it.

Keith’s not the first guy he’s found attractive. However, he is the first attractive one to annoy the absolute shit out of him and also the first to become his rival. And the first to spend the night in his bed with him.

Lance says nothing and gets comfortable. He even scoots in a little closer to Keith, enough that he can touch his forehead to the red paladin’s chest if he really wants. And he’s finding that he does want to. Does Keith feel the same way about him? He did sleep there, so what else could it mean?

He nestles into Keith’s chest, expecting a reaction from the negative end of the spectrum, but gets nothing in return but a sigh. Keith’s hand comes up and rubs his back absently for a few seconds before going back between them. Lance swallows and does it again, rubbing his face into Keith’s shirt, smelling sweat and--oh! That’s where the academy soap smell is coming from. He smells like the barracks and the cockpit of a plane. It’s nostalgic and intoxicating. He sees Keith raise his hand again and rub his back for a second time.

It feels good, like being back on earth. And bad, like he shouldn’t be doing this. But maybe just **_one_ ** more time?

Lance nuzzles into him again with a sigh, taking in the scent, the soft feel of fabric on his cheeks. His hand perches on Keith’s hip and holds there. He waits for the warmth from that rubbing hand but it never comes. Something is wrong he realizes. The body under his face is rigid and that can only mean one thing.

Lance tilts his head to look up at the face looking down on him. Keith’s eyes are wide with shock, staring down at the massively embarrassed face of Lance. There is no explaining what he just did. He can’t even pretend to be asleep--they were way past that.

“So...uh,” Lance stutters. “I was just…”

He was pawing at Keith and rubbing his face on him like a cat. And he was definitely enjoying every minute until he was caught. Even now he’s having trouble taking his hand off of Keith. His mind is torn as to whether he should pull Keith closer or push him out of the bed.

Neither will be well received, he thinks.

He blurts the obvious, “You--you were in my bed when I woke up.”

“You pulled me in last night,” Keith tells him. “You were talking about home. And you fell asleep. Then you wouldn’t let me go.”

“Why’d you stay?” Lance flushes a deeper scarlet and looks down. Is that skin peeking out from the hem of Keith’s pants? Oh boy. What’s worse? Staring into his eyes or into his pants?

“Well, I couldn’t get free,” Keith explains and barely avoids averting his eyes suspiciously when Lance looks back up. “And you wouldn’t stop crying. It didn’t feel right to leave you even if I could. Why were you--uh--rubbing your face on me?”

The amount of shame playing across Lance’s face increases tenfold at this question. Keith can’t decide whether Lance is about to throw a fit or burst into tears but he’s leaning more towards the tears. Lance’s eyes shoot all over the room to avoid Keith’s gaze. Quickly, he grabs the blanket and rolls away curling up inside to hide his face.

Keith stares at the lump of blanket while Lance breathes heavily underneath its folds. His hip still feels warm from Lance’s groping. It’s not that it was bad, just unexpected and unannounced. He thought Lance was as straight as it got, considering how he was with Allura. But with this interaction--maybe not as straight as he seemed.

Maybe now is the best time to just leave, before it gets really weird. Before Keith can even make a move Lance blurts out from under his blanket.

“You smelt good!” he shouts but then lowers his voice. “That’s why I...uh...I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“It’s like...being back at the academy. It feels normal--it feels like being home,” Lance rambles and begins to tear up. “For a second I forgot that we’re millions of star systems away from earth. It felt like I was there even though we’re probably never going back.”

Keith’s face softens, his confusion replaced with pity and slight disappointment. Well, that explains his clinging. He can’t share that homesick sentiment though. He doesn’t miss earth, the academy, or anyone there. He can’t think of why though since everyone else missed something .  
Lance hiccups before speaking again.

“Being around you reminds me of--”

“Can you come out from under the blanket?” Keith interrupts. “I can’t hear you.”

“So you can laugh at me? Hell no,” Lance coughs and shifts underneath the covers.

“I won’t laugh,” Keith rolls his eyes, slightly annoyed.

“I’m not coming out,” Lance maintains.

“This is ridiculous. Then I’m coming in,” Keith pulls at the covers.

“What? No!”

Keith lifts the bottom of the blanket and sticks his head inside. Lance has brought his knees up and ducked his head into his arms into the fetal position. It's the only way he can hide his face at the moment. Keith sighs and shakes his head.

“Why are you like this?” Keith asks with a huff.

“Like what?”

“When things get serious or whatever you hide or joke,” Keith points at him. “It’s childish.”

“Do not,” Lance argues.

“Do too,” Keith counters.

“Do not!”

“Dammit Lance,” Keith grumbles, not wanting to continue the schoolyard argument. “I’m on your team. If you can’t talk to us then what’s the point of Voltron?”

It’s quiet for a while and Lance pulls himself in tighter.

“Look, if there’s something you want to say, just say it,” Keith sighs, growing impatient. “Otherwise, I’m gonna go and pretend like this never happened.”

“No! Wait!” Lance shoots up and cracks his forehead directly on Keith’s nose.

Both of them howl in pain. Keith sits up holding his nose, hoping that it isn’t broken or bleeding but he tilts up, just in case it is. Lance rolls on the bed cradling his head with a whine, a bump raising on his temple.

“Chrise, Lamce!” he mumbles out from under his hands.

“I’m sorry!” Lance whines while wincing. He rubs his head in the hopes that the mark can be massaged away. “Did I break your nose?”

“I don’t thimk so,” he massaged the bridge. No blood.

“Want me to try again?” Lance grins despite the slowly forming bruise.

“You piece of shit--” Keith grumbles and swipes the pillow, slamming it directly into Lance's face as retribution.

They tussle for a while, pelting each other with shoes, blankets, and pillows. Something between laughter and shouting between tosses and tackles reverberates through the room until they both collapse, exhausted from the scuffle. Lance is panting and laughing the whole time.

“What was the point of that?” Keith shakes his head.

“Just me running away from my problems, using violence, wit, and charm,” Lance smiles.

“Charm,” Keith scoffs. “Whatever.”

“How else could I have gotten you into my bed?” he jokes with a wink.

“Because you’re a homesick baby and I’m a security blanket apparently,” Keith jabs him in the stomach with his elbow.

“On that topic…” Lance clears his throat and looks away. “Last night--”

“Nothing happened,” Keith assures him.

“--was the best sleep I’ve had in days.”

There’s quiet between them and Keith expects embarrassment on Lance’s face but finds a somber frown. He’s not sure what to say to that. All things considered he slept pretty well too. If he ignores what happened only moments ago he could say it didn’t feel weird at all. He could even say he was comfortable being there. There was no expectation of more than just company.

Boring but nice. He’d do it again on occasion.

“It was like being home,” Lance smiles a little. “Thanks,” he mumbles, and now there is a bit of a blush.

“It’s no big deal,’ Keith shrugs. “Anytime.”

Before Lance can make a comment on that Keith gets up and grabs his jacket. He runs his fingers through his hair and looks over his shoulder at Lance. Was there something there on his face, for just a second? Maybe a smile? Or something? Lance isn’t sure because it’s suddenly gone.

“We should get going. Training starts in an hour,” he announces. “And you need the practice--more than anyone else.”

“Is that so?” Lance glares defiantly. “We’ll see about that!”

He snatches his pillow up and throws it as a diversion to bolt for the door. Keith knocks it away but Lance is already leaving him in the dust, his laughter echoing down the hall. If this is what a full night’s of comfortable rest does to Lance, gives him more energy to be the little brat he is, Keith has to wonder what it will mean for Voltron in the days to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 14, 2017

If Lance is pain on a normal day, he’s insufferable when he’s well rested.

Before at least he was just annoying. Now he’s entirely too optimistic. After training in the Lions all morning he still wants more. He hangs on the shoulders of the other Paladins, tsk-tsking them when they say it’s time for a break. Tries to egg them on into more activities with a big grin on his face but everyone is too tired. Or just plain hungry.

“We can do another drill! Come on, we’re way better than this,” Lance grins. “You got my back right Hunk? You could go again, right? Pidge? Shiro?”

“I’m hungry Lance so no, I don’t wanna go again,” Hunk admits and rubs his stomach. Pidge agrees heartily.

“He’s right Lance, the body needs a chance to recharge,” Shiro chuckles. “But I admire your enthusiasm. We’ll take a break for lunch and afterward do some independent practice.”

“What? Lame!” Lance pouts and looks around the hanger for someone to back him up. His eyes fall on Keith.

Things have been weird this morning between them. And by weird he means it should be **_more_ ** awkward but it isn’t. It’s not that Keith is ignoring him because that’s par for the course, but he’s acting like he always does. Indifferent. Like nothing has changed.

Not that things should be that different, Lance shakes his head. It’s not like they made out or anything. All they did was sleep. And snuggle a little. Okay, the snuggling only happened on his side, but still--it totally happened. Why aren’t things weirder? Doesn’t it bother Keith at all?

“If you’re not tired Lance why don’t you run around a little more in your lion?” Pidge suggests. “No one’s stopping you.”

“Yeah, but…” he starts. He doesn’t want to go by himself. That’s boring. And lonely.

“He shouldn’t go alone,” Keith interjects. “He’ll probably end up in a sinkhole or stranded somewhere if he’s by himself.”

“Hey!” Lance objects to the notion that he’s a child.

“Keith has a point,” Shiro admits. “No one should be alone in case of a surprise attack. You don’t look too tired Keith. Can you go with him?”

There’s a glance between them, equal parts glare and consideration. Keith sighs in annoyance but nods. Lance pouts. He was hoping for more people but Keith is the only one who gets in his Lion. Better than nothing he supposes as he climbs back into his own Lion. At least he’ll get to show him up.

“Race you to the lake, slowpoke,” Lance’s voice comes through the Lion's mouth sounding metallic.

“Just try to keep up, loser,” Keith calls back once inside his lion. “Let’s do this Red.”

They run.

Lance grins the whole time while looking at the screen showing Keith behind him. Like being home again, chased by his siblings down the sandy beach. Hot sand between his toes occasionally cooled by a wave of rushing water. Everything smelling like salt and sunscreen with a mix of garlicky goodness as they pass the pizza shack. Oh man, what he’d give for--

The distraction throws him off, slowing him and allowing Keith to take the lead.

“You’ve got a big mouth for someone so slow,” Keith comments as he passes.

“I was just letting you ahead of me to make you feel better,” Lance argues.

“Why so you can give me a piggyback ride when you lose?” Keith jabs.

“How did--right,” Lance remembers. “I did tell you about that. Well, assholes don’t get back rides!”

“Who says I’d want one!?”

Lance tries a boost to get a little ahead of Keith. Keith boosts too and they keep in line with each other as they run across the landscape. Neither is willing to relent on their speed, the g-force getting stronger the faster they go to outdo each other. Keith takes the lead due to the nature of his lion but eventually both of the Lions lodge a protest in the form of slowing down, for their safety and that of their pilots.

They come to a stop at the lake and Lance is the first to climb out of the cockpit, jumping to the ground with no grace whatsoever.

“Win!” he declares and bows to the trees, bushes, and every rock. “You’re too much thank you, thank you. Please, ladies, control yourselves.”

“I got here before you did,” Keith sighs. “Getting out of the Lion first doesn’t make you a winner. Just desperate.”

“Says you,” Lance scoffs and turns to his Lion. “We know who the winner was. Right, Blue?”

“Huh, Blue didn’t answer,” Keith smirks. “Must know it was me then.”

“You wish. You just can’t hear her singing my praises,” Lance says brazenly.

“Enough, it’s too hot for this,” Keith finally gives in. “Let’s get back.”

“No way, I came out here for a reason,” Lance argues, pulling his helmet off and leaving it at Blue’s feet. “I’m not leaving until I swim.”

Keith rolls his eyes but takes a seat under a tree in the shade. He can’t exactly just abandon him there. While he gets comfortable Lance pulls off his armor until only a tank and shorts remain. No tan lines that Keith can see...so he’s naturally that dark. Or he sunbathes naked. Keith can’t help but stare with that thought but turns his head just as Lance looks up at him.

“You coming?” Lance asks.

“No, knock yourself out,” Keith sighs and closes his eyes.

“Your loss,” Lance shrugs and jumps in with a war cry.

“Not if that water is toxic,” Keith mumbles.

Lance swims and kicks around in the water for a while. He dives and picks up weird rocks from the bottom, only to drop them again. He even pockets a few of the smaller ones to decorate his room with. When he comes up to check the time by way of the sun he sees Keith still sitting under the tree, his eyes closed but definitely not sleeping. It’s too hot to nap. He wipes at his forehead a few times to wick away sweat.

“Water’s nice and cold,” Lance calls out to let him know.

“I’m fine,” he says but after a few moments, he removes his own armor to get a little relief from the heat.

Lance stares blatantly and asks, “you don’t wear a shirt under your armor?”

“No,” he huffs and resettles against the tree. “Too confining.”

“Yeah,” Lance swallows, looking at the muscles there. “Makes sense.”

Keith opens one eye with a furrowed brow but Lance is already diving under again. Thank god the water is freezing, Lance thinks. Where did that throb of--something--come from? Was it the memory of rubbing his face into that chest that brought a flush to his face? The thought of how it would have felt without a shirt there? Yep, that was it, he thinks as his face flares up red.

What’s wrong with me, he thinks. He’s never thought this much about a guy. Sure, he’s contemplated it before but never really tried pursuing dudes. None of them gave him a reason to think they’d be interested so he didn’t bother. But Keith...something told him Keith might maybe perhaps be interested...a little. After all, he’d never seen or heard about Keith with a girl.

Lance manages to calm down and pull himself out of the water half an hour later. It’s time they head back and get some lunch. He trudges his way up the bank towards Keith while trying to wring out the corners of his shorts.

“Finished fooling around?” Keith asks, his eyes opening.

“What? Uh, yeah. I think I’m good for now,” he nods and pulls his tank off to wring out too.

No tan lines, Keith’s mind reminds him. Lance actually looks kind of cool at the moment, water dripping from his hair and resting on his skin. Well defined legs slick with water. His eyes soft as he admires the lake. He shouldn’t find him so hot but damn. Lance is made for the water.

“You should give it a try,” Lance nods towards the water and slips his shirt back on. “It’s refreshing, better than the showers in the castle.”

“No, thanks,” Keith stretches and grabs up his armor. “Not my thing.”

“Why not? It’s fun,” Lance grins. “You could do it right now if you’re fast, real quick before we go.”

“I can’t s--” Keith stops himself. “I’m good.”

Lance knows what that means and now he has to say something about it.

“Keith, do you know how to swim?” Lance asks, a laugh creeping up in his throat.

“Of course I can swim,” Keith reddens at the accusation.

“You don’t know how!” Lance bursts into laughter. “That’s hilarious! I can’t believe this! Why didn’t you just say that earlier?”

“Why? So you could make fun of me?” Keith grumbles and shoves past him towards his Lion, carrying his armor under his arm.

“A little yes. But then I would have taught you how,” Lance laughs and picks up a piece of armor.

Keith turns and eyes him suspiciously over his bare shoulder. Lance has to be kidding or pulling his leg. It’s the punchline for something. Lance always makes a joke when there’s an opportunity for one. He can’t help it.

“I mean, I can’t now, since it’s time to head back but,” Lance shrugs as he pulls on his Paladin greaves. “Next time we’re out here.”

“Why?” Keith narrows his eyes at him, still waiting for the caveat.

“We’re a team aren’t we? Isn’t that what teammates do for each other?” Lance asks while putting on the next part of his armor. “It’ll be my way of paying you back...you know, for earlier.”

Earlier? Meaning them sleeping together last night? There has to be more, another reason, some ulterior motive but if there is one he can’t see it. What he can see though, is the both of them splashing around in the water, half dressed, and alone. Lance’s hands keeping him from floundering and sinking into the murky depths. That cocky smile as he rescues him from drowning, providing him with lifesaving resuscitation.

That doesn’t sound...awful.

Keith finally nods and throws on his armor. “Maybe next time, sure.”

“Really? I didn’t think you’d say yes,” Lance grins. “I’m rubbing off on you, admit it. You think I’m cool.”

“I’m not sure cool is the word,” Keith smirks and hops into his Lion.

“You think I’m cool,” Lance nods with a proud smile. “Sweet.”

Lance clambers up into his Lion and takes a seat. He presses a few buttons and sets up his screens.

“Race back?” Lance asks.

“I won, aren’t you supposed to carry me?” Keith jokes. “Stand still so Red can sit on you.”

“Assholes don’t get to ride,” Lance repeats and deftly avoids the pounce from Keith.

“Sore loser,” Keith mumbles and shoves him before running for the castle.

“False start!” Lance exclaims and follows.

They run back, all the while trying to avoid each other’s swipes and pounces. Keith can’t help but smile because for once he’s having fun with another person. And that person is Lance of all people. The blue paladin is still an insufferable jokester and sometimes that rivalry makes him want to set things on fire but...he’s not so bad. Keeps him on his toes.

When they finally make it back to the hangers and out of their Lions again the chase keeps going. Now the challenge is first to the cafeteria. Keith may have won the race to the castle but on foot he knows the next victory will go to Lance. Curse his long lean runner's legs.

“Eat my dust!” Lance cackles over his shoulder from four yards ahead.

Keith only pants in line behind him trying desperately to catch up. He hates being one-upped by Lance. One day that arrogance is going to get him into trouble that little--

CRASH!

A series of trays and food and Lance hit the ground with a clatter, along with the person who was carrying them out of the mess hall. Keith tries to stop in time but slides through food goop and into the pile that is a conglomeration of slime, metal, and two other Paladins.

“Hunk! Lance! Keith!” Shiro jogs over. “Are you all okay?”

“I think I just swallowed a spork,” Hunk groans from the bottom of the pile. “And great! Now there’s food goop down my shirt.”

“I’m fine,” Keith huffs and rolls off the pile. He stands and tries to wipe some of the goop off his armor but only succeeds in spreading it more.

“I think I broke something,” Lance complains, not moving from the mound.

“Yeah, your pride,” Keith huffs. “With any luck.”

“You wish mullet man,” Lance points, then groans his way to his feet.

“More like my back,” Hunk sighs and takes Lance’s extended hand.

"Good to see no one’s seriously injured,” Shiro smiles softly.

There’s a horrible shrieking scream and all eyes are on Coran who is mortified at the mess they’ve made. The Altean makes another strangled grumbling noise as he looks at the ground. The Paladins try to look harmless with varying smiles of embarrassment. Lance and Hunk with large grins, Shiro with a sympathetic sigh, and Keith working a half smile. Eventually, Coran devolves into a sigh.

“You Paladins seem quite content on making work for me,” he shakes a finger at them all.

“I was just taking food to my room,” Hunk defends himself.

“I was just--” Lance stops, realizing his excuse means nothing. He was running in the hall after all.

“Sorry Coran,” Shiro pats the Altean’s shoulder. “They’ll clean it up. Won’t you, Lance? Keith?”

“Us?” Lance asks and Keith elbows him hard in the gut. “Yeah, sure...of course we will do that.”

“Great! Glad that’s settled,” Hunk sighs. “Here you can take care of my shirt while you’re at it.”

Hunk shoves the bundled and gooey mess into Lance’s face before heading to the barracks for a new one. Shiro shrugs with a sheepish smile. After all, they caused the pileup. It's the least they can do. Lance and Keith eye one another, each blaming the fiasco on the other in their heads.

“Laundry or the floor, Lance?” Keith asks as they both peel off their goopy armor.

“Floor,” Lance sighs, tossing his stuff into Keith’s hands. Gross, it even got into his tank underneath, so he peels it off too and tosses it into the pile. Coran immediately hands him a mop plus bucket. At least some things are galactically universal.

Half an hour later Keith is still trying to scrub the goop out of the shirts given to him in the kitchen sink. It simply refuses to come out. The armor was easy enough but fabric...it may never come out. From the kitchen he can hear Lance griping about his share of the work.

“This is ridiculous,” Lance whines. “I cleaned up the mess in front of the hall but now I gotta do the cafeteria too?”

“You’ve been skipping the chores, it’s only fair,” Keith comments. “Hunk and Shiro have been doing all the cleaning.”

“Want to trade? My back is killing me,” Lance sighs.

“Want dishpan hands?” Keith asks and Lance shakes his head. “Then get get back to moping.”

“I believe it’s mopping,” Lance corrects.

“What’s it matter? You’re doing both,” Keith retorts.

“Rude,” Lance grumbles and swishes the mop vigorously across the surface.

Eventually Keith manages to get all of the mess out of the clothes around the same time Lance finishes the entire cafeteria. He rings as much water as possible out of the shirts before hanging them up on the ladle and spatula hooks. There’s no better place to put them for the time being.

“Win,” Lance pants and wipes his sweaty forehead. He snatches a hand towel from the table and wipes his neck with it. “How is this more work than piloting Blue?”

“It’s no fun, that’s why,” Keith tells him as he dries his hands. His fingers are wrinkly from the water, making him grimace.

“What are you going to do now?” Lance asks as he pours out the liquid from the bucket down the drain. Keith becomes suddenly aware that they are shirtless together in the kitchen but diverts his attention to answering.

“Eat,” Keith sighs.

“That’s right, we got roped into cleaning before we could eat lunch,” Lance remembers. “I’m starving.”

The only thing to eat is some food goop in the refrigeration unit. That and whatever Hunk made for dinner the night before. All this alien food makes Lance homesick for some good old classic human food. Cheeseburgers. Sofrito. Teriyaki Chicken. Soda. Eggs and Bacon. Flan. Pizza.

Sweet sweet garlic knots from heaven.

“God I miss real food,” Lance sighs with disappointment while looking at his options.

“Me too,” Keith admits. It's the only thing he does miss.

“If you could have anything to eat right now what would it be?” Lance asks as he pulls out the plate of goop and sets it on the table. Keith grabs the leftover food from last night and puts it right next to Lance’s plate.

“Popcorn,” Keith smirks. “Buttered and salted. A large cola. And a Snickers, slightly melted.”

“Stop,” Lance cries. “You’re making me hungry. And now I want to go see a movie.”

“If you close your eyes and think about it hard enough, maybe your goop will taste like pizza or something,” Keith suggests, but his tone sounds like he doesn’t believe it will.

Lance is willing to try anything. He scoops a big spoonful of the green jello-like slime and closes his eyes. After a deep breath, he shovels it into his mouth and swallows. Keith watches his face for any change.

“Delicious. It tastes just like mashed potatoes and gravy,” he lies, trying hard to keep a neutral face.

“I’m sure,” Keith rolls his eyes and eats his own food.

“No really, give it a try,” Lance laughs as he pushes a scoop towards Keith.

“No way!” Keith objects with a smirk, his arm blocking the incoming spoon. The action only gets goop on the table. They ignore it and go back to eating.

Something is on their minds, the both of them. Being alone like this reminds Lance of that morning. When they were close in his bed. He wants to have more opportunities to be alone with Keith and right now he has his undivided attention. When they were at the academy Keith didn’t even give him the time of day, didn’t even know his name.

How embarrassing.

Keith finds himself thinking of their time at the lake. If he’d swallowed his pride and joined Lance in the water he could have...well, it’s little late to amend it now since they’re already back at the castle. There isn’t much else that Lance could teach him. Despite Lance’s bragging, Keith knows who the better close combat fighter is. Well, Shiro is the best but Keith is a close second. Better than Lance at least.

“Want to do some training after this?” Keith asks while poking at his food a little more. “On the deck?”

“Woah, are you inviting me? Where are the flying pigs?” Lance laughs and searches the room.

“Nevermind then,” Keith huffs and picks up his plate. “It was just a question.”

“No, I’ll come,” Lance hurries to follow him to the sink where they dump off their dishes. “But I’m at a loss; invited to a soiree and nothing to wear. Whatever will the common folk say?”

“Yeah, the doorman will have to turn you away without a coat and tie,” Keith smirks and proceeds to leave the cafeteria.

They stop by their respective rooms to throw on some pants at least. Once they get to the training deck Keith starts up the training program. Lance watches him tap buttons, not familiar enough with the tech to assist in any way. After a few beeps, he pulls out his bayard transforming it to his gun with an impressed whistle and fake gunshot noises. He can’t wait to show up Keith.

“You won’t be using that,” Keith shakes his head and pulls a practice sword from a panel in the wall. He then tosses it to Lance who barely catches it by the hilt by dropping his own weapon. “If you’re going to train with me you’re going to learn close combat.”

“Uh,” Lance looks down at the sword with uncertainty. It’s blunted, incapable of doing too much harm but still. He knows literally nothing about swordplay. When he looks up Keith is wielding one as well, his bayard on the ground at the edge of the arena.

“You okay with that?” Keith asks, his brow lifted.

“I guess,” he swallows. “I’ve never used a sword before. It’s weird.”

“You never know if or when you’ll lose access to your bayard,” Keith explains. “It’s better to be versed in multiple types of weapons.”

“Alright Teach,” Lance rolls his eyes. “Let’s do this. What first?”

They start with a few basics. Lance has no idea what he’s doing, as Keith suspected. The only thing he has down fairly well is a strong balanced stance. Probably needs it for the recoil on a gun. Makes him harder to knock over with just pure force but other than that he’s absolutely terrible.

Lance hesitates far too frequently with his swings and he exerts too much energy making it easy for Keith to find openings and use momentum to knock him over. Or he’d get him in the back of the knees and he’d buckle, Keith’s blade positioned right at the neck to emphasize how dead he’d be in a real fight.

“Stop locking your knees. Come on,” Keith pulls him up off the ground and gets into a stance. “You’re getting better. Again.”

“Really?” Lance perks up for a second. He brings the sword up just in time to block a swing from Keith.

“Nice,” Keith smirks. “You only flinched a little there.”

“I didn’t flinch!” Lance objects and swings back.

“Sure you didn’t.”

Lance huffs in annoyance and tries going on the offensive for once. All his defensive fighting wasn’t helping before so why not switch it up. He steps forward, haphazardly slashing at his combat partner.

He’s getting frustrated, Keith concludes. Lance’s face is red from a combination of fatigue, embarrassment, and annoyance. It would be easy to take him down, yet again, but Keith lets him keep trying. Lets him get close enough with his swings to think he’d win the round.

Lance then begins to feel like something’s off, like Keith is going easy on him. He remembers how easily Keith dispatched multiple combatants. For him to last this long...

“You’re toying with me,” Lance pants, more annoyance in his voice. “What are you waiting for?!”

Right after Lance’s exclamation Keith smacks his hand with the tip of the blade, making the blue paladin drop it with a shout. Lance tries a desperate punch and misses by a huge margin, allowing Keith to grab his fist with the offhand and twist it behind him. He then pulls his body close and brings the blade to his throat once again.

“An opening,” Keith reveals smugly.

Both of them pant heavily and only then Keith realizes how close they are. How he can smell Lance’s sweat. How his bare chest presses to Lance's warm back. How he swears he can hear Lance’s heartbeat through the skin. And that maybe Lance can hear his too. It’s then he finally lets go.

He swallows and picks up Lance’s practice weapon.

“I think that’s good for today,” Keith says while clearing his throat.

“Wait,” Lance pants, his hands on his knees. “You get to kick my ass all up and down the deck...but I don’t get the same chance...Hell...no.” Lance points at the wall screen with a shaky finger while he catches his breath. “Use the thingy, and get us some rifles. My turn.”

Keith puts the swords away and turns to Lance. He’s exhausted but he isn’t about to let this affront to his skills go without a fight. He guesses that Lance deserves the same opportunity to show him up but Keith isn’t sure they even have standard rifles in the training room. He hits a few buttons to search what programs they have. When Lance finally stands up straight bullseye targets blip into existence in the middle of the field.

“Now this is what I’m talking about,” Lance smiles, cracking his fingers.

“There’s a program for target practice but I don’t know if they have rifles,” Keith swipes at some of the buttons and gets negative buzzes. “I know about the swords because Allura showed me. All of this is in Altean…”

“We’ll use mine then,” Lance scoops up his bayard and it changes shape. “Me first.”

“Fine. Begin level one target practice training session,” Keith announces and the computer repeats his request before a timer begins to count down.

Lance fires in short bursts, hitting targets with ease. His grin and energy returns to his face with each successful hit. Keith finds himself staring for a few seconds at the glow radiating from his face before realizing the program is finished. Lance’s victory dance had distracted him.

“Look at that, 89 out of 100,” Lance whoops.

“They were all stationary,” Keith points out.

“You’re up,” says Lance, ignoring Keith’s comment and shoving his bayard into Keith.

Keith takes it in his hands. It’s strange. He’d never hand over his own weapon so casually. With a cough he shoulders it and readies his aim before telling the computer to begin.

Better than he anticipated, but still horrible. Keith lowers the gun with a disappointed sigh. With a score of 62 out of 100. It isn’t a lot worse than Lance but enough that his pride takes a hit. Lance tries to muffle his snickering laughter but fails miserably.

“Yeah, well, I don’t use a gun that often,” Keith shrugs indifferently and tries to hand the bayard back.

“It shows,” Lance laughs and then approaches. “Let the master show you the right way.”

Lance doesn’t take the gun back. Instead, he stands behind Keith and has him raise the gun up. From there his hands make little adjustments, pressing the butt of the gun tighter into Keith’s shoulder. His foot taps Keith’s into moving slightly to the left, so he obeys silently.

“Now bring it up and match the sights,” Lance hums. “There. Now you should hit better. And the recoil won’t affect you as badly.”

Keith gives a small nod and swallows. Lance removes his hands and calls out to the computer to start the simulation again. This time he gets 78 out of 100. Lance gives a whistle, bringing a small smile to Keith’s face.

“Would you look at that? Not bad,” Lance compliments as Keith hands it back. “My turn. Up the difficulty. Moving targets. Then small ones after that.”

For the next half hour Lance does consistently better than Keith. Though what’s truly amazing is that Lance does better than previous rounds. He’s better at shooting moving targets than stationary and smaller ones than big ones. He even switches stances, shooting lefty vs righty. It defies Keith’s expectations of him. It rapidly becomes apparent that Lance really can put his money where his mouth is, at least where shooting is concerned.

“You’re actually good at this,” Keith admits aloud.

“You’re just now noticing?!” says Lance with an offended tone. He lets loose a spray of bullets to take out three targets. When the training sequence finishes he lowers the gun with a smile. “Thanks. Means a lot, coming from you. You never compliment anyone.”

“Sure,” Keith shrugs, looking away.

“You’re not bad at that sword-fight-thingy,” Lance tries to elaborate. “And you’re a great pilot. At the academy, I kept thinking I’d catch up and beat you eventually. Then you were cut from the program. I thought ‘this is it! My chance!’ But then you weren’t there to show up. And I was still compared to you. You could see it in their faces. I wasn’t good enough.”

Keith looks guiltily to the ground and scratches at his head of hair. He hadn’t thought about it. No one at the academy mattered to him. Not the cadets. Not his superiors. When he ran into those caverns he lost interest in the academy altogether. He knew there was something more important out there, he just had to find it. And it turned out he was right.

He approaches and places a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“I was...preoccupied,” Keith sighs. “And I’m sorry. I called you the worst pilot ever before. The Blue Lion never would have chosen you if that was true.”

“Yeah,” Lance tries to smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“So uh, don’t feel down. Comparing yourself to others only makes you feel worse. It’s just not very ‘you’, if you get what I mean,” says Keith. “Sorry, I’m not good at things like this.”

“You’re really not,” Lance laughs. “But I get it.”

Keith’s hand lingers on that bare shoulder longer than he intends and before he pulls it back Lance eyes it. The red paladin turns away, his face a little flushed from the prolonged touch. It felt nice. Lance looks curiously over Keith’s back, the muscles tight in nervous apprehension.

“It’s late,” Keith announces, picking his bayard up off the ground. “Probably a good time to clean up. Get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” Lance nods. He thinks to ask Keith if he wants to ‘stay the night’ again but before he can muster the courage Keith is already out of the training hall. Maybe now isn’t a good time, he concludes.

*****

Lance lets out a relieved groan as the hot water hits him. The shower feels great, excellent even. Scrubbing all the residual bits of food goop and clammy sweat from his skin--refreshing. It feels bittersweet when he scrubs his shoulder, remembering the warmth from Keith’s hand.

“He looked ashamed,” Lance comments aloud, recalling the discomfort on Keith’s face.

He can’t figure out why he made that face. It isn’t like they’d never touched before. They’ve jabbed, poked, and shoved each other all over the place, all the time. Why would patting a shoulder embarrass him? Lance shakes his head. Maybe it’s not the fact that he was patting ‘a’ shoulder and more the fact that it was Lance’s shoulder.

“It’s not like we kissed or anything!” Lance exclaims to no one.

Keith isn’t into him. Or anyone. He’s focused on being a paladin. On being a member of the team, just like Lance should be. They have a universe to defend. Maybe that’s why he’s ashamed, doesn’t want to lose his focus. There’s no time for that other stuff. No time for kisses. No touching. No romance.

They aren’t doing any of those things anyway.

Lance licks at his lips. It isn’t like they did anything illicit. Just slept next to each other. That doesn’t mean it has to progress to anything more than that. Just friends, being there for each other. A hot friend. With a gulp he shakes his head. He should definitely not go sleep in Keith’s bed that night. Or the night after. Or the night after that one.

“But he did say, ‘anytime’,” Lance says to the mirror, trying to convince himself. “It’s not bad if we’re just sleeping right?”

If it's just sleeping then sleep in your own bed, he scolds himself.

Eventually, he settles down in his bed, alone, listening to the soundtrack Coran gave him.

The first track is a forest of some kind. Nothing from earth as all the animal noises are wholly unfamiliar to him. Next comes what sounds like an engine room humming along smoothly. It’s like being in an old but well-maintained cargo ship. Very soothing and for a moment he almost drifts off. But then the ocean from some distant planet begins to play.

It should make him feel right at home, instead, he feels a pang of sadness in his chest. Heavy and throbbing. Oceans sound pretty universal he concludes as a lump in his throat emerges and tears begin to form. What are his brothers and sisters doing now he wonders? Playing in the waves? Making sand castles? Is he keeping them safe by being with Voltron? Do they miss him as much as he misses them?

Do they think he’s dead?

He tosses the track and headphones to the ground with a huff and immediately buries his face into the pillow. Shoulders heave in ragged shakes as he cries, to which he is glad the pillow muffles much of the sound.

Lance hates it, this feeling of being alone despite the situation. It isn’t like the rest of the team feels differently. They probably miss Earth to some extent. Perhaps it’s selfish to think it, but he feels like he misses it more than all of them put together. It feels like he’s left more behind.

 _Anytime_.

He stands, pillow clenched in hand, and makes his way out the door. Then down the hall. And then another. Until finally he’s standing outside Keith’s room. How late is it? Will Keith be asleep already? He settles on a gentle knock. If Keith is asleep it won’t wake him but if he is awake he’ll hear it.

There’s a mumble within.

“What?” Keith answers.

Lance opens his mouth but doesn’t speak. He feels like a nuisance. With that thought, he closes his mouth and resolves to go back to bed. He can handle sleeping alone tonight.

“Lance?” Keith asks.

He swallows and mumbles back, “Yeah. Want to--Can I come in?”

There’s a pause and some shifting inside.

“Door’s not locked,” Keith responds.

Lance enters the room. It’s the same as his own room, just more tidy and organized. Keith’s paladin armor in a neat pile on the table. His clothes folded on a chair. How come he has a plant in his room? Keith himself is on the bed, lying on his back with his arms under his head. Like he might have been doing sit ups a moment ago. He lifts a brow, eyeing the pillow in Lance’s hand.

“I uh...I was...I couldn’t sleep,” Lance shrugs sheepishly, hugging his pillow self-consciously. “Could I...uh…”

He can’t actually say it for some reason. This never happens to him. Normally, he can spit out a charming line with no trouble at all. _You_ look _cold baby, want to use me as a blanket?_ Wink wink! Girls love that stuff. But...maybe it’s a little too forward for a guy. Should he even attempt it? What if Keith thought it was stupid? Of course, Keith would think it’s stupid...he hates jokes. And Lance.

Keith sighs, then shimmies over on his bed. Lance stares for a moment, not sure what that means.

“This is about as far as I can move over without hitting the wall,” says Keith, slightly annoyed.

Lance perks up. Score! Immediately he throws his pillow onto the bed. Keith grabs it and moves it over a little, just as Lance slips in under the blankets. He shuffles and scoots until he’s comfortable.

“You good?” Keith asks when he finally stops moving.

“Yeah,” he answers back. “Your bed seems softer than mine.”

“I meant…” Keith sighs before continuing. “Your pillow is wet.”

“I uh, huh. Must have dragged it through a wet spot on the way here,” Lance lies.

“Sit up,” Keith tells him. He takes Lance’s pillow and tosses it on the floor, then pushes his own pillow in it’s place. “Don’t get mine wet.”

“Thanks,” Lance smiles awkwardly.

Keith simply nods and rolls over, his back facing the bed’s new occupant and his head on his arm. It’s quiet for a few minutes, as the both of them adjust to the presence of the other. Lance lets out a sigh and tries closing his eyes.

“What made you cry?” Keith asks.

Lance looks over but Keith hasn’t moved from his position, still facing the wall. He leans back into place and looks up at the ceiling as he answers.

“Just...home. The usual reason. My mom. The beach. Everything,” Lance tells him. “What about you? You miss Earth?”

After a long pause, Keith answers, “No.”

“Really? Not even your family?” Lance chuckles.

“Can’t miss what you don’t have.”

Lance furrows his brow. That’s too sad. Keith really doesn’t have anyone.

“Here I have everything I need,” Keith answers. “Food. A place to sleep. A purpose.”

“And you have us. Voltron,” Lance adds.

“Yeah,” Keith sighs. “Now, go to sleep Lance.”

“Okay,” Lance sighs. “Night Keith.”

“Night.”

“Uh Keith,” says Lance, a bit of hesitance in his voice.

With the deep controlled sigh of a man ready to kill his teammate Keith answers, “What now?”

“If I...cling to you like before, sorry in advance. I sleep deep. You can kick me if--”

“I’m a light sleeper. If you get too grabby, you’ll know. Because you’ll be on the floor with a bruise on your ass,” Keith warns. “Good night Lance.”

Instead of answering Lance simply nods and settles in. Once the room is quiet for about an hour Keith finally shifts in the bed to look at Lance. It’s difficult to do as at some point Lance grabbed the shirt Keith sleeps in, tight in his fist. But his regular breathing shows Lance is truly out. With relief, he turns his back to him again.

He makes no attempt to pull from Lance’s grasp as he’s learned from last time how effective that is. But he does scoot in close enough to use the same pillow. Despite offering it to Lance he needs it, or his back is going to kill him in the morning. Just as he shimmies in Lance rolls towards him, an arm reaching over.

Keith holds his breath as the arm snakes it’s way across his lower back and curves around his torso. He lets out a relieved breath when it doesn’t move further. Lance is just spooning him, hugging him really, nothing to freak out about. But then Lance pulls their bodies tight together and rubs his head between Keith’s shoulder blades.

“Lance,” Keith whispers low in a warning tone, ready to kick the shit out of him.

“Mmmm, yeah,” Lance mumbles back, nuzzling into his hairline and sending a jolt down Keith’s back.

“L-Lance,” he stutters, swearing upon all he knows that there are lips, Lance’s lips, on the base of his neck. His hot breath making his heart pound in his ears. Lance even begins sucking on the flesh there. It weakens his resolve to kick him and even makes him let out a barely contained moan. “S-Stop,” he finally exclaims.

Luckily, Lance’s mouth stops whatever it’s doing and he snuggles close to Keith still holding tight to him, pressing his hips to Keith’s ass. Now Keith is definitely awake. He doesn’t have to look down to know what Lance has done. Unintentionally but still. With a swallow, he tries to shift a little to make himself more comfortable but it doesn’t help, if nothing else it feels even more improprietous. He lets out a curse in response.

“Mmmm…Keith,” Lance mumbles, rousing a little from sleep. “Keith?”

“Yeah,” Keith answers nervously.

"Was that you? I heard a noise,” he sits up with a yawn, his eyes heavy. He’s barely awake.

“Are you serious?” Keith asks, trying to keep his red face and boner out of sight.

“What?” Lance blinks. He really doesn’t know, Keith realizes.

“Go back to sleep Lance,” Keith huffs.

Lance nods and drops back onto the pillow, falling asleep just as quickly.

The whole night is like that. Lance would roll over and cling tight to Keith. Sometimes he’d just throw an arm over Keith’s side. Twice more in the night he woke to find Lance’s face buried in his neckline. It leads to very little sleep, getting a total of maybe three consecutive hours of rest.

It’s stressful without a doubt and more than once he thinks to kick Lance out. Thinks about saying ‘this isn’t going to work’ and sending him out of the room. But at the end of the day, it feels good. Really good. Especially Lance’s warmth when he crowds in close. Even the lips grazing at his neck in the middle of the night, sending a pleasing shiver down his body.

It feels wrong while simultaneously feeling too good to put a stop to.

Hours later Keith’s watch blinks bright in the dark. It’s nearly time to get up and for once Lance isn't stuck to him. A good shower should keep him going for the rest of the day, and now is the best time to do it. He carefully slips out of the blanket and even more carefully climbs over Lance’s sleeping body. The minute he’s over him he stops.

All through the night Lance touched him, held him, brushed small bits of exposed skin with his fingers. And the whole time Keith hadn’t tried even a little to touch back, worried about what it would do. He raises a hand and hesitantly places it on Lance's cheek.

Hot to the touch but no response. He rubs his thumb absently down his cheek and rests it on his lips. The same lips that have been damn near devouring his pulse only a few hours ago. What do they feel like? He presses his thumb gently on Lance’s lower lip, parting it slightly. He looks so innocent when he’s quiet. And vulnerable.

“Keith,” Lance sighs, and Keith pulls back the hand quickly. Lance blinks his eyes open a little but closes them again without another word, going back to sleep.

What is he doing?

He scoots off the bed and goes into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. After starting up the water he looks at his face in the mirror. Red. Red as his Lion. The shame doesn’t stem from the prospect of kissing Lance. It’s the thought that maybe, just maybe, Lance wouldn’t reciprocate. That despite the groping all night, maybe Lance really is just homesick and probably thinking of some girl he misses. How embarrassing would that be? To return those advances only to find out--surprise--he’s actually fucking straight and horrified to find he kissed a guy. That isn’t something one just forgets after it's happened either.

He would have to know more before trying anything he couldn’t go back on. He’d hate to create a schism in the group because he can’t keep it in his pants.

Soon the mirror fogs up with steam, obscuring his features. With a resigned sigh, he turns the water to freezing and hops in.

*****

The day is different from before, Lance notices. Normally, Keith has the energy to argue with him. Or at least quips back at some of his stellar jokes.

“Get it? Stellar? Cause we travelled through space,” Lance wiggles his eyes with a proud smile.

“Yeah,” Keith yawns. “Hilarious.”

The whole day he’s like this. So much so that the rest of the team notices as well. Each ask in their own way if he’s okay. Keith just responds with the usual.

“I’m fine.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Just a little tired.”

It isn’t until that particular excuse that Lance makes a connection. Keith’s tired. He wonders if that’s his fault. Did he keep him up all night? Or maybe it was how he left this morning?

When he woke Keith was already in the shower, so he stepped out to get back to his own room to change. Didn’t even say thanks before leaving. Maybe he’s in a bad mood because of that, Lance figures. He decides to apologize when they get a chance alone.

Later, Lance sees Keith in the Red Lion bay. He’s kneeling down to check something on his Lion’s paw, sticking his fingers carefully into the joint of the wrist. Lance calls out to him but he doesn’t respond. Once he gets closer he can see that Keith has dozed off in the middle of maintenance.

“Dude,” Lance comments. “Did you not--hold up…”

Lance squints at Keith’s hair. Off to the side is that...no. It can’t be.

“Oh...oh no,” Lance shakes his head. He bites his lips together at his realization.

When they went to sleep last night Keith’s neck was fine. But now there’s a bruise. What is a very obvious bruise if he isn’t wearing his Paladin armor. A hickey. It can be nothing else.

“Did I...do that?” Lance wonders.

He can’t remember but who else? And if he did, why didn’t Keith say something? That’s definitely something that gets a person kicked out of a room. And his ass handed to him on a plate. He can’t imagine why Keith would allow that. Unless he liked it. Or hey, maybe he doesn’t know?

Keith shakes his head, suddenly awake from his two-minute trip into dreamland. Lance watches as he tilts his neck with a crack, then adjusts the collar. Oh. There’s three of them. Lance flushes. He certainly knows then. And he must have really liked it to allow three. He still can’t believe that he did that in the middle of the night to a guy he hardly knows.

He doesn’t clear his throat until Keith’s done adjusting the collar. Keith looks over his shoulder, going stiff for a second before speaking.

“What?” Keith asks, turning back to his work.

“Uh, never got to say thanks this morning,” he says as he looks up at the ceiling. “For letting me stay.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Keith tells him and climbs up a little higher on Red’s leg to inspect another section.

“Did you sleep alright?” Lance asks.

“I slept fine,” Keith assures him.

“How’s your neck?” Lance asks and Keith nearly slips off the Lion. “You didn’t have a pillow.”

“I said I slept fine,” Keith repeats. “I’m trying to get some work done, Lance. So can you go bother someone else? Like Pidge or Allura.”

“Right. Right! Sure,” Lance nods and shoots finger guns at him. “See you around.”

Once Lance is out of the hanger Keith lets out a sigh, then climbs up into the cockpit. After taking a seat he pulls up the interior cameras to get another look at his neck.

It looks atrocious. And trashy. Who knew Lance had a vacuum cleaner for a mouth? He pulls up the collar to hide it again. He doesn’t know how he’d explain it to anyone if they asked. Best to just keep it covered until it goes away on it’s own. Keith dips his fingers into his collar to massage the little marks. It felt good at the time. Now they’re a problem. Now he’s going to have to wear his armor for three days straight, or at least until the marks are hardly visible.

Maybe if he takes a beating in the training room, he can flub them as training bruises. What a great idea, he snaps. First he’ll finish his adjustments to Red. Then eat some food before running off to the training deck.

*****

Lance spends an inordinate amount of time in the common room with Coran. He’s put on some kind of documentary on Altean life before Zarkon up on the hologram screen. It’s boring. Super boring. He’s not sure how Shiro manages to sit there watching it with an interested smile. Allura chimes in with information neglected from the video every few minutes or so, making Shiro smile more. It’s so obvious that Lance almost laughs.

Keith comes in with his plate of food just as Lance chuckles to himself. Should he sit next to him? He decides against it to sit next to Allura instead without a word and begins eating. Lance notices but doesn’t comment. He’s too busy making fun of the documentary, at least until a hottie shows up on screen.

“Oh man, who’s that?” Lance points and sits up

“Do you mean the general?” Allura asks, pausing the video.

“No no, this chick. The one who actually looks good,” Lance points then grins. The others stare at him, not sure what to say. “What? I can look right?”

Coran and Allura burst into laughter. Shiro shrugs, not sure what the joke is. Keith continues to eat with a roll of his eyes. Just Lance being Lance, falling for every pretty girl he sees.

“That...is not a ‘chick’. He is a man...and also,” Allura starts wheezing. “...my father...when he was very young. When he was about two hundred years old.”

Lance’s jaw drops and his face turns beet red. “Really? I mean...he looks...he looks good for being...two centuries old,” Lance laughs awkwardly.

“What, changing your mind young Paladin?” Coran smiles and pats his back.

He just assumed it was a girl from the long beautiful hair. The fact that it was a man instead didn’t really change how attractive he found him. But this isn’t the way he intended to come out to his friends and teammates. Keith looks over at him for a second, almost as if waiting to hear a response.

“The only thing it changes is how I’d deliver a pickup line,” Lance flushes with a grin. “It’s no wonder you’re so cute Allura. Your dad was super hot! I’d be all--Sir, do you have a little human in you? Would you like to?”

They laugh together more, none of them offended in the least. Allura laughs so hard she braces herself on Shiro just so she doesn’t fall out off the couch. Coran nods his head in agreement about King Alfor’s appearance and hits play on the video again. Keith’s already out the door before Lance can get a look at his face, leaving his empty plate on the table.

Lance figures it would look strange if he immediately chases after Keith, to find out if he’d said something wrong. So he stays to watch the remainder of the documentary.

*****

Keith makes his way quickly to the training room. Lance’s exclamation solidifies something for him. Lance is definitely not straight, the discovery of which brings great relief to Keith. That means maybe, just maybe, the previous night wasn’t a fluke. That he finds something physically attractive in Keith and that his actions weren’t completely unintentional.

Good to know if he wants to return the favor sometime.

*****

Finally, the documentary ends. Shiro tells Allura that he found it really interesting. Coran makes a comment to remind them of Lance’s error in sex identification. They all chuckle again, Shiro giving Lance a pat on the back. The blue paladin simply responds with finger guns, saying to watch out, never know who’s he’s gonna pick up next. He gets a few more laughs before they all disperse, Shiro shadowing Allura to the main console room while talking about Altean culture and Coran making his way to the healing pods.

Lance waits for them to disappear before he takes off down the hall. He knows exactly where to look for Keith. Just as the door opens, Keith goes flying across the training field, landing on the other side with a thump.

“Keith, you need help?” Lance grins smugly.

“No, I’m fine,” he insists as he pulls himself up again. He sweeps his hair out of his face, revealing a nice big bruise forming on his jaw.

“Yikes,” Lance cringes. “If you’re sure…”

“I am,” Keith nods and massages his chin.

He jumps back into combat with the test dummy, holding his own for two minutes before it throws him down again. Lance winces at the fall. He starts to think maybe the program is running a little hard when the dummy grabs Keith and flips him over on his back. Keith lets out an annoyed grunt before rolling out of the way of a drop kick. He tumbles to his feet just in time for a pole to slam into his side, sending him flying again, this time with a pained cry.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Lance finally says, unable to watch any longer. “End training program.”

The dummy shuts down, crumpling to the floor. Lance crosses the field as Keith tries to get to his feet. He looks terrible. Bruised jaw and split lip. And who knows what else under the armor. Keith stumbles right into Lance as he makes it to his feet.

“Are you crazy?” Lance asks, shouldering Keith. “I probably could have handled it but that was way above _**your** _ skill level. Why didn’t you just cancel it?”

“No reason,” Keith tells him, wiping his mouth with his hand, smearing it with blood.

“You look like shit,” Lance says back with a grimacing smile. “We should take you to the healing pods. It looks kinda bad. And I usually don’t mind when you look terrible, makes me look better by comparison.”

“No, just help me to my room. I can take it from there,” Keith winces as Lance shoulders him.

They pass by Pidge and Hunk on the way, explaining that Keith got a little carried away with in the training deck. Pidge just nods with a cringe while Hunk offers to help carry him. Keith shakes his head, making himself a little nauseous. Tells them not to worry about it. Lance lets Hunk know that Keith won’t be making it to dinner in the canteen, before turning the corner to Keith’s room.

Once in the room, Lance carefully lets Keith down onto the bed to which the red paladin flops backward with a groan.

“I’m fine,” Keith grumbles and waves a hand. “Just go. I’ve got this.”

Lance nods but goes into the bathroom to at least get him a hand towel. He gives it a soak in water and wrings it out before bringing it back to find Keith out like a light. He didn’t even get started on removing his armor. Lance shakes his head in disappointment.

“Got this my ass,” Lance puffs.

He takes a seat and pulls at the boots, haphazardly tossing them into a corner. Then the gloves. The chest piece is more difficult and eventually, he manages it before tossing it aside too. The more he removes the more damage is revealed. Until finally Keith is nothing but boxers and bruises. With a swallow, Lance tucks him into the bed.

Lance dabs the blood from his lip as he eyes the hickeys again. There’s not much else he can do. He’s no doctor. With a shake of his head, he puts the cloth on the table and leaves to get food with the others.

*****

He helps Hunk cook that night. And by ‘helps’ he just cuts vegetables, or something close to them, for Hunk to use. The yellow Paladin won’t trust him with anything else concerning his culinary masterpiece. An hour later they have a meal fit for royalty. Kinda looks like sushi they all comment. The fanciest alien sushi they’ve ever seen. But the whole time Lance eats all he can think about is Keith.

“He looked terrible,” Pidge comments.

“Yeah, maybe one of us should bring him--oh! Hey, feeling better?” Hunk waves.

Lance looks over his shoulder to see Keith in his day clothes. But now that some time has passed the bruises are even darker. Even his knuckles have turned a purply blue. Lance can see his own personal marks stark against his neck but they look like they’re a part of everything else.

“You look awful!” Coran says without holding back.

“Yes, I agree. Perhaps I need to recalibrate the training deck,” Allura ponders worriedly.

“It’s alright, I just clicked more than I could handle on the drills,” Keith rubs his shoulder again. It hurts the most out of all the injuries.

“You’re lucky Lance stopped it,” Pidge adds. “From what he said, you probably could have been seriously hurt.”

Keith looks to Lance who looks down at his food.

“Yeah, probably,” says Keith. “What’s for dinner?”

Keith takes his seat next to Lance and eats in relative silence while the others talk amongst themselves. Pidge talking about the tech available in the castle the upgrades he’s working on. Shiro relaying all he learned about Altean history that day. Even Coran has a few things to say about the castle’s newly updated defenses.

“You’re real quiet tonight Lance,” Hunk furrows a brow at him.

“Must be sick,” Pidge smirks.

“Uh, I’m good. Just really enjoying this space sushi. Tastes great Hunk,” he compliments the chef.

“Want to know how I decided to use these components to create the illusion of tasting just like real tuna? Separately the flavor compositions taste nothing like fish. It's the chemical reactions once they’re combined that create the flavor but only after taking cooling time into account. It’s actually really fascinating. I started with--”

“Sorry, I’m going to head to bed,” Keith interrupts.

“Of course,” Shiro nods. “You probably need it.”

As he stands his shoulder barely nudges Lance, feeling like an accident and not at the same time. They all bid him goodnight and he walks back to his room, rubbing his aching shoulder. It isn’t long afterward that Lance yawns and excuses himself as well. Since he helped cook he didn’t have to clean.

His first thought is to stop by Keith’s room so he does so. The knock is gentle and immediately answered.

“What?” Keith grumbles. It sounds like he’s in his bed already.

“Just wanted to check, to make sure you weren’t dead,” Lance jokes. It's quiet for a while and he adds. “You know, cause if you died we’d have to break in a new Paladin and I’ve already put so many hours into hazing you. It would be such a waste.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Keith sighs. “Are you coming in or are you just going to talk through the door all night?”

“Uh, I didn’t think you’d want me to since you know…” Lance lowers his voice. “Since I...uh…”

“I can’t hear you, Lance,” Keith reminds him.

He looks around to find the halls empty. Not even approaching footsteps. The door whooshes open and he hurries in before it closes behind him. Keith is under the blanket, his head on his pillow. Lance’s pillow from last night is no longer on the floor but on Keith’s bed too.

“Are you sleeping here or not? Cause if not then get out,” Keith mumbles.

“Can I still?” Lance asks, looking at the ground. “You’re kinda banged up. I figured you might not want comp-”

Keith interrupts with a deep sigh, “For the final time, I said I was fine. I’m not that hurt. Also, I said anytime. Which, shockingly, means that I don’t care if you stay or not.”

“Okay then…if you say so,” Lance shrugs off his jacket and jeans, leaving only his tank and boxers. He lifts the blanket a little to slide in and already he feels warmer. Instinctively Lance reaches for the hem of Keith’s shirt but finds that it isn’t there. The tips of his fingers only touch warm flesh. “Uh, Keith.”

“What now?”

“You’re not wearing a shirt,” Lance states dumbly.

“No, I’m not. Anything else, Captain Obvious?” Keith shifts a little.

“Uh, no...Nothing else…” Lance flushes. “I just um...no, I’m fine.”

They can’t sleep. Lance, because he can only think of the bare flesh that is literally within arms reach. Keith, because he keeps thinking about how last night Lance couldn’t keep his hands off him. What’s stopping him now?

Lance wonders if Keith is still awake. He holds his breath and listens for Keith’s breathing. Maybe he is, Lance decides he can’t really tell. If he reaches out and touches his skin again...will Keith let him? After all, he didn’t say anything about the hickies. If he says no they can always stop. It’ll be awkward but at least he’ll know. Lance resolves to do it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

His hand slowly lifts and fingers touch lower back. Hot skin. Lance swallows and curls his fingers around his waist, palming the flesh there. No reaction, good or bad. He scoots closer and his hands squeeze gently at Keith’s hips. He’s not pulling away, Lance notices. So he presses his body closer, his nose finding its way to Keith’s neck.

With a nuzzle, Lance feels there’s a difference in Keith’s body. It’s tense suddenly. Definitely awake. But he’s not saying anything. Not doing anything. When Lance mouths at his neck, Keith lets out a ragged sigh and bites back a moan.

That’s not a _negative_ response.

Lance mouths again, sucking at the flesh there, making Keith shudder a little. Fingers squeeze at his waist, pulling at his hips. Lance’s hands slide around and up Keith’s stomach to his chest, then pulls in to bring them closer. Palms flat on his pecs, skin to skin.

That’s when Keith feels it. When Lance did this before his dick wasn’t hard against him. This time it definitely is. Lance is not asleep. Not at all. To test it further, Keith tilts his head to give Lance more access to the juncture of his neck and shoulder, which he immediately takes advantage of with nibbles and licks. God, it’s been so long...

“L-Lance,” Keith groans but then Lance’s hands scrape down Keith’s chest in long drawn out scratches. With a grunt, he rolls over pinning Lance down. “That hurts you moron!” he pants, red-faced.

“Sorry,” Lance stares up, both their faces flushed.

“I’m covered in--in bruises and cuts, Lance,” Keith reminds him. “What the fu--you can’t just…”

Keith can’t finish his sentence. Now that he’s looking down on Lance he can’t help but feel like he did that morning. Vulnerable, weak Lance. He was awfully handsy a moment ago but with Keith looking down on him, Lance looks meek all of a sudden. Uncertain. Nervous.

“You can’t...just…” Keith tries to repeat. His eyes flick down to those parted lips. He wants them, to devour them, he’s wanted to for the last few days.

“You gonna just stare at them or what?” Lance finally baits him despite his nervous grin.

He pins Lance’s arms above his head, startling him a little and it makes Keith smirk.

“Shut up, Lance,” Keith hushes, then silences him with his mouth.

Keith kisses eagerly, as if he’s been starving for months. The way he hungrily bites at his lips and forces his tongue in has Lance melting into the bed. His body squirms underneath Keith’s legs. Taking a lesson from Lance, Keith nuzzles into Lance’s neck tasting him. It isn’t until Keith takes a nice bite that Lance finally lets out a yelp.

“Sorry,” Keith apologizes. “I can sto--”

Lance shakes his head. “That was--do it again.”

Keith complies with a growl and bites into him again, then sucking on the flesh of his neck. Lance struggles against the hands holding him down but can’t free himself. It feels like being hunted and pounced on. It’s amazing, euphoric even. Keith brings his mouth lower but finds a shirt barring his path.

Again without saying anything, Keith pulls it off and immediately runs his hands down Lance’s body. He feels possessive for a moment and gives Lance the same clawing scratches down his chest, his hands coming to rest on slender hips. Keith breathes in and nips at the flesh down his torso giving Lance another shudder.

God, he’s so horny. It’s been...months. How far can they go? When Keith looks up he sees Lance is as red as he can get without being a lobster and panting like a labrador.

“Can we stop for a sec?” he gasps.

“You alright?” Keith asks. This is fun, but Lance looks lightheaded, almost ill.

“I’m great,” Lance wipes his forehead. “Don’t laugh...uh...this is the first time...I’ve done anything with a dude.”

“What?” Keith stares in disbelief. With the way he was a moment ago?

“Not that I haven’t considered it before, just never had any opportunity,” Lance clarifies. “It’s more overwhelming than I thought it would be.”

“Want to stop?” Keith asks, rolling off to lay next to him.

Lance shakes his head and rolls to his side to face him, “No way.”

“So you want...what? To slow down?” Keith tries to understand.

“Yeah, a little. I don’t think...I’m ready. I uh, need to get used to this first,” Lance indicates the space between them.

“Okay,” Keith shrugs. “Then maybe you shouldn’t grope me in the middle of the night.”

“That was...touche’,” Lance nods, looking down at the bed with embarrassment. “Can I still sleep here though? Even if I don’t put out?” he jokes.

“I guess,” Keith rolls his eyes, then smirks. He then sticks an accusing finger in Lance’s face. “No more hickeys damn it. I can’t risk getting myself killed in the training room to get bruises to hide them.”

“Oh! Is that why you did that?!” Lance laughs and slaps the bed in hilarity. “You should have asked me for some concealer earlier. I could have hidden them!”

“You’re just telling me this now?! How long did you know?!” Keith shoves him, an incredulous look on his face. “Seriously?!”

Lance just laughs and laughs as they tussle in the bed. Keith tries to smother him with a pillow and Lance rolls them until they fall onto the floor where the wrestling continues. Lance gets him into a headlock to which Keith elbows him into letting go. He then tackles Lance to the bed, pinning him like before.

“I think I win,” Keith announces from on high.

“Uh, yeah,” Lance nods, looking up again. “Well, you’re hurt and stuff. So, I let you win.”

“Sure, whatever,” Keith rolls his eyes. He gives Lance another long heady kiss followed by another bite to the neck. When Lance moans he plops into the bed on his side. “Night Lance.”

“You can do that and just go to sleep?” Lance swallows and rubs his neck. “How do you not have the biggest set of blue balls?”

“I do regular maintenance in the shower,” Keith yawns. “Now go to sleep.”

Lance scoots under the covers and in close to Keith, not hesitating to wrap his arm around the bed’s other occupant. Keith grabs his hand. For a second Lance thinks he’s removing it but finds him sliding it higher, off of a bruise and onto his chest. Then moving his head so Lance’s arm can slide under his neck. Once comfortable they fall asleep with Lance buried in Keith’s soft dark hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 14, 2017

Keith wakes up first inhaling a deep breath, taking in the smell of the room and the visitor under his covers. A faint scent of lemons? He rolls over to see Lance spread all over the bed, taking up as much space as possible, a hand down his pants scratching absently. Keith averts his gaze from that crotch and climbs over the slumbering paladin to take his shower. He isn’t in the water long before Lance wanders into the bathroom with a loud yawn.

At first, he looks a little dazed, as if not quite awake. He rinses his face in the sink with a groan. While drying it with a towel he looks over to see Keith staring at him from beyond the shower screen that blurs from the waist down.

“I uh,” Lance starts, eyeing the blurred screen not knowing what lay behind it but curiosity creeping up on him.

Keith continues shampooing his hair, while Lance stares at the soap slithering its way down his neck and chest. It isn’t until he rinses out and starts washing his body that he finally says something to Lance.

“There something you need?” Keith asks. “Or did you just want to watch?”

“What? No, I uh,” Lance swallows. “I was just...washing my face.”

“That was five minutes ago,” Keith reminds him. “If you’re sticking around to watch, fine. I don’t really care. But close the door, you’re letting out all the steam.”

Lance remembers that Keith mentioned performing regular ‘maintenance’ in the shower, turning his face scarlet red. No one actually says they don’t care about someone watching them. No one's blase about that . Keith is messing with him, trying to fluster him. So he shakes his head vigorously and leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He leans against it outside and covers his mouth, his thoughts tumultuous. How could Keith be so casual about it? About a guy just sitting there watching him go about his business?

What did Keith usually think about when he jacked off? Girls? Guys? Lance?

“I doubt it,” Lance shakes his head but it doesn’t stop him from thinking about Keith moaning his name as he touches himself. It would probably sound better than the moans he heard last night.

Before long Keith is out of the shower and mostly dressed. The bottom half anyway.

“Shower’s open if you want it,” Keith cracks his neck as he passes.

“Thanks,” Lance nods and goes inside. He pokes his head out and makes a joke trying to lighten the mood. “Wanna watch? Don't want to miss this fine specimen.”

“I’m gonna call your bluff,” Keith turns and leans on the door. “Sure. Strip.”

“I-I…” Lance flushes under the scrutinizing gaze of Keith, hiding a little behind the door. “No, I was...um-”

“Maybe you shouldn’t kid about things like that,” Keith raises a brow and collects his jacket from the chair, slipping it on. “Not everything is a joke.”

“You were pulling one on me a few minutes ago,” Lance argues.

“No, I wasn’t, Lance,” Keith sighs. “See you at breakfast.”

*****

Never has a team been more thankful than when Hunk is cooking. Coran puffs his cheeks in annoyance but it doesn’t stop him from eating a few servings himself. For once, Lance doesn’t have much of an appetite. Instead, he keeps stealing quick discreet looks at Keith. He comes to the conclusion that Keith doesn’t notice, or simply doesn’t care.

Allura is the main speaker at the table today. She talks about the ship being nearly ready to leave Arus. Keith’s glad to hear it, and voices that he can’t wait to get off this planet to take the fight to Zarkon. Lance should be happy too. The sooner they fight Zarkon, the sooner they can go home. Back to their families. Back to their old lives before Voltron.

Something about that doesn’t sit as well with him as it should. _Exactly_ the way things were before?

That day forming Voltron goes easier and they’re able to form the great warrior without nearly as much trouble. In fact, they do great. Forming and unforming it multiple times. They head back to the castle to change and maybe get some lunch. So impressed are Alura and Coran, that food is already prepared for them and the Alteans announce they will have a picnic outside. Hunk suggests they eat at the lake since Lance came back from it the day before without adverse effects like extra limbs. They could all go swimming.

So, a little after midday, all the paladins, along with their lions and the Alteans, sit by the water enjoying a refreshing meal and drink.

“This planet is so beautiful,” Shiro comments. “A shame we won’t get to see more of it before we leave.”

“Yeah, who knows when we’ll come across a nice lake again,” Lance sighs, disappointed.

“Now’s a good time to take advantage before we go. Have a little fun,” Hunk announces and pulls off his shirt. “Cannonball contest, Lance?”

“You know it!” Lance says ecstatically, already abandoning his own shirt to the ground.

“I don’t have anything to swim in,” Pidge declines. “No thanks.”

“Same,” Keith nods and leans back on a tree.

Alura leaves for a moment into the pod. When she comes back she’s sporting an Altean swimsuit. Nothing revealing but it definitely hugs her body in all the right places. Shiro loses all sense of speech for nearly a minute while she pulls up her hair.

“Holy crap! You’re ripped!” Hunk stares and then whispers to Lance. “Look at those muscles!”

“She could bench press me,” Lance whispers. “Or a car.”

“She could press Voltron,” Hunk answers back. “Aliens, man. Wild.”

Just looking brought a blush to Lance’s face but Keith didn’t have a reaction at all except to stretch and close his eyes. Even Pidge sits there with rosy cheeks after seeing her. He either doesn’t care or has a self-control rivaling Buddhist priests. Coran is fitted into a bathing suit as well, one that looks a little too much like it came from the 1920s, complete with stripes.

“Come now, princess! Let’s see who on team Voltron can hold their breath the longest!” Coran yells and runs for the water, Allura on his heels with a laugh. Lance and Hunk follow close behind.

They all jump in with a huge splash, Hunk while screaming ‘cannonball’. That leaves Shiro, Pidge, and Keith on the bank, contentedly enjoying the fresh air. Well, enjoying as much as they can. Pidge is blowing his nose constantly and griping about pollen. Shiro keeps sighing as he looks out in the water. Keith is trying his hardest to ignore everyone but failing each time Lance pops up out of the lake, dripping wet with a laugh.

“What are you staring at Keith?” Shiro asks with a sympathetic smile.

“Nothing,” he insists, looking away.

“Just as bad as Lance,” Pidge sniffs. “Staring at pretty girls.”

“Well, Princess Allura is...something else,” Shiro admits.

“God look at her! Her body’s perfect! It’s so ridiculous it’s unfair!” Pidge throws his hands up, his face flushed. “Long beautiful hair! Hourglass figure! Muscles that can lift a Buick! Aliens man!”

“She’s not my type,” Keith says before this conversation starts going towards locker room talk.

“Oh yeah? What’s your type then?” Pidge sniffles, turning a screw in one of Rover’s panels.

“Guys,” Keith deadpans.

Both Shiro and Pidge look at him, shocked that he would be so blunt. It stops all conversation for nearly a minute. A minute of awkward silence before Pidge snickers. Then Shiro tries not to but can’t hold in his own chuckle. Keith wants to be annoyed but he knows they aren’t laughing specifically at him, just at his delivery. So he can’t stop himself from smiling too.

“You could have just said ‘pretty eyes’ or ‘a cute laugh’,” Pidge laughs. “You didn’t have to out yourself. What the hell dude?”

“It’s not that big a deal,” Keith huffs. “I thought everyone at the garrison knew.”

“You know, you never really answered the question,” Shiro notes. He then thumbs to himself. “A passionate voice, whose words come from a place of caring. Someone who's gentle and understanding. What about you Pidge?”

“Uh...well. Smart,” Pidge answers shyly. “Someone who can talk to me about tech and not get bored or be completely lost. Oh, and they gotta smell good.”

Both Shiro and Pidge look to Keith for his own input. His eyes glance over at Lance for a second as he runs the bank, throwing fruit from a nearby tree into the water like little bombs. Laughing at the top of his lungs before jumping in again.

Keith closes his eyes with a shrug and answers, “Athletic. Someone quiet, I guess.” A splash reaches their spot on the shore getting his shoes wet, making Keith open his eyes with a glare. “And considerate.”

“Whoops, sorry!” Lance laughs from the water. He clambers up the bank, leaving a trail of water as it drips off his body. Lance extends a hand to Keith. “Sure you don’t want to swim with us? I’ll teach you still.”

Right now? Is he serious? Or another one of his jokes? Keith narrows his eyes and shakes his head. Lance shrugs, says something along the lines of ‘your loss’ and ambles his way back to the water. Keith eyes flick to follow him as he goes. Damn those long legs. It’s a crime that they’re attached to such an insufferable little-

Before long Allura suggests they get back to the castle for more training drills. They can get a couple combat simulations in before dinner if they get back now. They have to clean up their picnic but they could still make it back before sundown if they hurry.

“You guys head back,” Keith waves. “I’ll get this.”

“Alright,” Shiro nods. “Maybe Hunk should stay and help.”

“Okay, I can-”

“No, I need Hunk to, uh, help me with some tech stuff in the med bay,” Pidge interrupts. “Lance, why don’t you help?”

“Ugh, fine,” Lance shrugs. ‘I hate chores.”

Pidge elbows Keith.

“I’ll keep your secret,” he grins mischievously and blows his nose.

“What secret?” Keith raises a brow.

“About your type,” he rolls his eyes and adjusts his glasses. “You can’t fool me. Noise level aside, Lance sure does have nice athletic legs, doesn’t he?”

Pidge winks again and takes off for the Green Lion, a devious grin on his face. Is he that obvious? Or is Pidge just exceptionally perceptive? Either way, the green paladin thinks he’s setting the two of them up. Oh, boy.

He hopes Pidge isn’t in the mood for gossip when he returns. Keith rubs his forehead, anticipating a headache later.

The other paladins and the Alteans head back to the castle, leaving Keith and Lance utterly alone for the second time at the river. They clean up without a sound, picking up the picnic plates and rinsing them in the river, folding up the blankets they sat on while eating. Things go faster than they anticipate, the awkward silence between them pushing them to finish their task quickly.

Lance wonders if he did something else to piss Keith off. Well, other than that morning with his attempt at...whatever the fuck he was trying to do. When he came up the bank for his swimming offer, Keith looked at him suspiciously. As if he couldn’t be trusted. Like Lance was going to say ‘just kidding’. It hurt and only afterward did he realize how shitty it must feel to take someone seriously and find them pulling your leg.

“Keith,” says Lance. “Can we...talk?”

Keith doesn’t respond, he just keeps washing dishes in the stream. But he doesn’t say no, so Lance takes that as an invitation to speak.

“About this morning...I didn’t mean to uh,” Lance scratches at the back of his head, unsure of the exact words he’s looking for. “I get nervous. And joke around a lot. The more nervous, the more I joke, to lighten the mood.”

Keith continues cleaning so Lance adds more.

“I didn’t mean to lead you on; I just thought you were joking too,” Lance explains. “So I thought--I don’t know what I thought. Maybe I thought doing things with guys--you do it differently. I don’t know...Are you...are you laughing at me?”

Keith is laughing, actually laughing at the situation.

“I make you nervous? Seriously? The way a girl makes you nervous?” Keith shakes his head with a chuckle. Imagine Lance, the incorrigible flirt, nervous about Keith.

“Yeah, I mean sorta. It’s kinda worse,” Lance tries to smile.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Cause I don’t know what I’m doing?”

“When do you ever?” Keith asks as he hands the plates to Lance.

“Hey, I hadn’t even kissed a guy until yesterday! I’ve never had a serious girlfriend, let alone a boyfriend. I don’t exactly have experience in this sort of thing !” Lance blurts while putting the plates in the metal basket. “I’m still learning, okay? Cut me some slack!”

“This isn’t even a _thing_ Lance,” Keith explains. “I’m not your boyfriend. We’re not dating. This is just...it’s just to relieve stress. So relax. This definitely isn’t a relationship.”

“It’s not?” Lance quirks a brow and takes a seat next to him by the water.

“No,” Keith affirms.

“But we kissed,” Lance points out, confusion still on his face.

“So? Doesn’t mean I want to marry you, Lance,” Keith rolls his eyes. “I know I said earlier that not everything is a joke, but not everything is completely serious either. And we definitely don’t need a label for this, other than friends or comrades. Lance, what are you doing?”

“Just wondering which of us would wear the dress,” Lance ponders while tapping his lip. “I have the better skin, no comparison there, but your hair would stand out better against white…would you wear white?”

“Lance,” Keith pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“I know, I know, sorry,” Lance apologizes for the joke. “So we’re just friends? With less than pure benefits?”

“Right,” Keith sighs. “Unless you don’t want to, which is fine by me.”

“Fine, sleep alone tonight,” Lance sasses him. “But I’d like to see you sleep soundly after I kiss the hell out of your mouth.”

Lance pins Keith to the ground next to the bank, the dish in his hands dropping and sinking to the bottom of the lake. Lance’s tongue spreads open Keith’s lips to taste his mouth. Kissing is one of the things Lance is relatively well versed in. Keith takes deep breaths through his nose, as Lance is not releasing his mouth any time soon. The blue paladin threads his fingers through that mullet of hair and tugs at it to deepen the kiss. Lance was so shy before but arguing brings out the brashness in him. This forwardness is different but refreshing. Keith groans a little, feeling a knee graze between his legs spurring his loins to immediate action.

“Woah,” Lance looks down. “You’re hard, already? I must be really good at this.”

“I didn’t get to take care of it this morning,” Keith bites at Lance’s lips. “Someone interrupted my morning routine.”

“Oh? Oh! Me, that was me,” Lance remembers with a flush.

Now’s as good a time as any to learn how to do things.They’re alone after all. How would he do this if Keith were a girl?

Lance lowers his hand, hesitant at first, and slides it under Keith’s shirt to touch his stomach. Warm and writhing under his fingers. Lance presses his mouth back to Keith’s, rubbing his hand higher and higher until he reaches a nipple. He gives it a pinch and swallows down Keith’s responding moan. Breathes it in like it’s life-saving air.

Keith places his hands on the hemline of Lance’s pants, his thumbs playing with the elastic of his wet boxer shorts. Lance notices the touch with a physical reaction of his own, and Keith notices his noticing. He slips a thumb into the waistband and brushes it against his skin.

“Uh,” Lance mumbles, nervously.

“We can stop here if you’re too scared,” Keith brings up and luckily not in a condescending way. Well, maybe a little condescending.

“I’m not scared!” he yells louder than necessary. “Can we just kiss? Until I get better at this?” Lance looks uncertainly at Keith’s hands gripping tight on the seat of his shorts.

“Sure,” Keith shrugs, moving his hands to Lance’s neck instead and pulling down to get at that mouth.

They continue to kiss under the shade of the tree. Lance finds his hips dipping down to get his body closer to his partner. Keith brings his hands slowly down Lance’s neck, down his chest, and for a second he thinks Keith’s going for his pants again but instead they slip into his own.

“Are you gonna-” Lance whispers.

“I said I didn’t get to take care of it earlier,” Keith reminds him. “Don’t want to see, then don’t look.”

Lance’s eyes go wide and stare at each small movement. Keith’s hand unbuttons the top. He slides the zipper down. Keith expects Lance to avert his eyes at any moment, too shy or nervous or something to look. But Lance swallows the lump in his throat and watches as Keith’s hands slip into his pants to grab onto his hard-on. He’s about to work it out of his pants when something comes through the communication device.

“What’s taking you guys so long?” Shiro’s voice comes through. "Are you two fighting?"

“Damn it,” Keith clenches his jaw. He reaches over and talks into the receiver. “Keith here. No. We’re just finishing up.”

“Great, head back soon. We need to do some team drills,” Shiro reminds him.

“Got it,” Keith grumbles and lets out a sigh. He fixes up his pants with a grumble. “Interrupted. Again. Get off me, Lance. We gotta go before they send someone to get us.”

“Uh, okay,” he bites at his lip, looking down at his boner between them. “I’ll just think of _something_ to get rid of _this_ …”

Lance lags in getting up so Keith flips them to be on top and looks down on Lance’s surprised face. For someone who was so forward before he gets flustered easily when the dynamic flips. It’s cute. Lance is not used to someone else being the instigator.

“Come back to my room later,” Keith tells him. “I’ll uh, take care of it for you.”

“I-I,” Lance stutters.

“Or you could watch me. Offer still stands,” Keith sighs and stands from the ground, giving Lance a hand to pull him up.

“I’ll th-think about it,” Lance says, watching Keith bend over to grab the boxes. He shoves them into Lance’s arms while grabbing up the blankets. With that, they both climb into their lions and head back to the castle.

*****

Training is brutal and Allura’s no help. They thought she would ease up after their successful forming of Voltron. She did say before that they were finally acting like a team. But no. She’s just as much of a hardass as before.

“Come now, you can fight the gladiator, can’t you? You’re a team now, it shouldn’t be difficult!” she encourages from the sidelines.

They aren’t losing per se, just not being particularly successful. And Lance can admit that it’s entirely his fault. He keeps getting distracted, his eyes nowhere near where they should be. Keith is doing fine, although he looks miffed that they keep having to fight this thing over and over. And tired. He looks so fucking tired of this shit.

“Lance!” Keith calls out but not fast enough for the blue paladin to avoid a glancing blow to the shoulder. “You moron! Pay attention!”

“I am,” Lance yells back but then lowers his voice to an inaudible whisper, “to you...you jerk.”

They do the drill again and this time it’s Keith that gets distracted and not by Lance. His back hurts. His joints ache. And damn it all, is his lip bleeding again? Probably Lance’s fault, he rolls his eyes. Can’t stop biting at his lips when they make out. Not that he has a problem with roughness but it’s probably what reopened the split. Explains why he tasted blood when they kissed earlier.

“Keith!” Shiro shouts.

Keith takes a near hit to his face and ducks just in time. But it doesn’t help when the gladiator swings around a second time, hitting his gut and hard.

“I got it!” Pidge runs forward, shooting his bayard at the robot’s leg, entangling it. “Shiro!”

Shiro runs up and clotheslines it with his robotic arm, using his weight to take the fight to the ground. The group surrounds the bot with their weapons pointed at it, except for Keith nursing his side. Having lost the advantage the gladiator submits and goes limp.

“Well done paladins!” Coran cheers. “Knew you could do it!”

“Yes, you finally beat the lowest level as a team,” Allura adds. “Congratulations. Are you alright down there, Keith?”

“I’m fine,” he grumbles.

“I think we’ve trained enough today,” Shiro pats him on the shoulder. “Time to eat and rest up.”

“Send food to my room,” Keith winces, touching his side. “I’m gonna shower again and check my wounds.”

“Sure,” Shiro nods as the red paladin limps away.

“Is he alright?” Hunk asks, a little concerned.

“He’s always like that,” says Pidge. “I wouldn’t worry.”

“I’ll bring some bandages to his room later, since he’s too stubborn to use the med bay,” Allura sighs. “Speaking of, the prisoners from the Galra ship should be ready tomorrow Pidge. You wanted to be the first to interview them.”

“Yeah!” Pidge says excitedly.

The rest of the party start for the cafeteria to ready dinner. Lance lingers behind them quietly. He could join them for dinner. Or he could slip away to Keith’s room where he’s going to be showering again. Pidge turns and notices Lance going the other direction.

“Where are you going Lance?” Pidge asks.

“Uh, my face feels oily. Gonna go do a scrub and facial mask. It’s not this beautiful by accident you know,” he winks and waves. “I’ll eat later.”

First he drops by his room to change back to his day clothes and rinse his face, that way it couldn’t be said that he didn’t go back to his room. After, he jogs down the halls and shows up at Keith’s door. The knock receives no response. Halls are empty. Keith would want him to let himself in, right? He peeks in finding the room empty at first but hears running water in the bathroom. Lance opens it halfway and noses his way inside.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come by,” Keith admits, pulling off his shirt.

“Well...I thought about it. And I decided...it might be fun,” Lance shrugs his shoulders helplessly and closes the bathroom door. The moment he does so the room begins filling with steam.

Keith nods and begins lowering his pants, taking the boxers with them. Lance watches with his back against the door, eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar. Once the clothes are at his feet he kicks them aside, and strides into the hot shower, letting the water stream down his body. He leaves the screen open for Lance so his view isn’t obstructed. With that, Keith raises his head and lets the water hit his face, slicking his hair back out of his eyes.

Pale but well built. With all the training he does, why wouldn’t he be? Still a good number of bruises and cuts blotch his ribs, thighs, and shoulders but they’re healing. None of it detracts from how fit he looks, if anything the injuries make him look even tougher, which Lance can admit is a plus.

Lance swallows as Keith lowers his hand. So far he hasn’t looked lower than Keith’s torso but with his hand going lower, his eyes are drawn down to the groping of his length. Keith goes to work slowly at first, gliding from the base to the tip, squeezing the head each time he reaches the top. Lance bites at his lower lip, feeling a surge in his pants at the thought of maybe touching Keith.

Keith would let him do that right? Touch him? The way he’s touching himself?

“I’m so fucking gay,” Lance whispers to himself, looking down at the bulge in his pants.

“I doubt it,” Keith sighs and pumps faster. “You’re probably bi. But that doesn’t really matter.”

Keith looks over to see Lance’s eyes enraptured, focusing intently on his hard cock. When Lance licks his lips hungrily Keith flushes red. Lance’s lips, wound around his cock. What a thought. It’s enough to make Keith close his eyes to imagine it more vividly. Bracing himself on the wall he moans, elated to know Lance’s eyes stuck to him. He tips over the edge, his imagination making it feel like Lance is blowing him in the shower.

Lance watches as Keith hunches over a little, doing a few quick strokes and coming with a ragged sigh which may have been a name. Lance takes a few heavy breaths while watching as the orgasm slips down the drain. Keith lets out a sigh and leans back, his eyes coming to rest on Lance’s ridiculously flushed face.

“You enjoy the show?” Keith asks, soaping up his body.

“I uh,” Lance nods. “Yeah, it was...it was great. Did you...did you moan my name?”

“Yeah,” Keith admits, rinsing his body off. “Why? Get you excited?”

“Maybe,” Lance answers, looking down at the bulge stubbornly refusing to leave.

Keith steps out of the shower and towels off. He slips on a pair of boxers and towels his hair before looking up. Lance looks weak again, like his knees are going to buckle under him at the smallest pressure. He loves that meek little look on his face. And look, he’s still hard as a rock. Keith can’t resist crowding into his space and pressing his lips to Lance’s dumbfounded mouth. He takes a second to react before kissing back.

“Want me to help you out?” Keith asks, a hand grazing the outside of his pants leading to a catch in Lance’s throat.

“You mean…” Lance starts, his eyes flicking down to his hand and back to Keith’s eyes.

“Only if you want to,” Keith shrugs.

He expects Lance to decline. He expects him to joke and shimmy his way out of the bathroom to get his breath back. Not ready to accept what they were doing. But instead, Lance swallows and nervously brings his hands to his pants and unbuttons them. Then lowers them around his hips until his aching boner reveals itself.

Keith has to admit, he’s impressed with Lance’s daring. And that’s not the only thing he’s impressed with. This is going to be fun.

“Relax,” Keith nuzzles into Lance’s neck.

Keith reaches down and gets a firm grasp on Lance’s cock, eliciting a sharp gasp. His hand is so warm. He squeezes in slow leisurely strokes while Lance keeps himself upright. His knees already weak from before and now he’s shaking to stay up against the door.

“Keith, I feel lightheaded,” Lance pants. Is it the steam? Or the stimulation?

“Breathe,” he reminds him. “Deep breaths.”

Lance nods and lets out a loud moan as Keith increases the speed and pressure. He remembers to breathe as Keith buries his teeth into his neck. Lance feels it coming embarrassingly quick. Already, he’s so close. Keith hears the change in his voice, the heightened breathing. He knows Lance is almost done but he wants to make this really memorable.

“Lance, don’t move. Stay against the door,” Keith tells him.

“Why?” he pants, wiping the steamy sweat from his brow. “What are you...about...to do?”

Keith sticks his tongue into Lance’s ear, making him melt. “Nothing you won’t like, trust me. Tell me to stop, if you don’t want it.”

He drops to his knees, perching his hands on Lance’s bare hips. Instantly, Keith engulfs the length in his hot mouth, making Lance moan loudly. Lance bites down on his lips trying to silence himself but it does little to help. Keith bobs his head up and down, pulling and pushing on Lance’s hips.

Is this really happening? Is that really Keith’s warm mouth on his...he’s had blowjobs before, good ones too, but this--it’s a whole new level of intensity. Keith knows just where to put his tongue, knows just how to take it deep, knows exactly when to graze his teeth and when to release to lick just the sensitive head. It’s mind boggling and Lance’s face just gets warmer and warmer the longer they go.

“K-Keith, I-I…” Lance pants raggedly.

Knock knock!

“Cover your mouth,” Keith whispers urgently and Lance does so, slapping his palm to his panting mouth.

“Keith, I brought some bandages. Oh and medicine,” says Allura from the hallway.

With any luck she’ll just go away but what if she comes in? Can Lance keep quiet without them stopping? He doesn't want to lose his built up momentum. And part of him likes seeing Lance suffer through the sweet bliss. He pauses for a second, removing Lance’s twitching cock from his mouth, dripping saliva down his length.

“Thanks,” Keith answers her.

She walks into the room and places the box on his side table.

“I put them next to your bed, Keith,” she calls through the bathroom door.

Keith keeps sucking hard and deep while Lance looks as though he’s going to pass out. He’s trying so hard not to make a sound by biting down on his knuckles but his willpower is weakening. It sounds like she’s about to leave but she stops and knocks on the bathroom door. Keith sucks hard on his balls, tonguing the space between them. Biting down harder is all Lance can do to keep a whimper from escaping him.

“Is there anything else you need? Someone to help with the dressings? Food? I’m sure Hunk can whip up something special for you if you’re not up to--”

“I’m not hungry,” Keith interrupts her and then licks Lance’s balls while pumping his cock.

Lance is dying inside, trying to keep quiet, his face getting redder and knees shaking. He bites on his knuckles even harder to keep from making a sound. God he’s going to give himself a bite mark bruise at this rate.

“You must eat,” Alura insists.

“I will,” he promises and takes in the entire length of Lance’s cock. Lance gets dizzier the longer they go and his legs are starting to buckle but Keith holds him up, hands pinning him securely to the door.

“Fine, but I will check in on you,” she shakes a finger at the door. “Can’t have any of the paladins off their game.”

Keith wants to smile, to laugh. Instead, he hums out an ‘uh huh’, muffled by Lance’s swollen cock, which satisfies her enough to leave. The moment the door is closed Lance gasps out a relieved but weak moan, his voice ruined.

“Keith I-I can’t...g-god…” Lance whimpers, bracing a hand to the door while the other runs through his short hair and pulls at the roots. “Wh-why are you...so good...at this?”

“Want me to swallow it?” Keith asks before sucking again.

“God, yeah. I m-mean, n-no! I mean...” he pants and groans something in Spanish, trying to hold back his moans but Keith is working hard on his cock. Sucking hard, tongue swirling around. His mind is swimming in the feel of Keith’s wet mouth. “Fucking...d-do whatever you w-want.”

“If you insist,” Keith smirks and takes the cock as deep as he can into his throat.

He pulls and pushes, making Lance thrust into his mouth. Lance reaches out, splaying his fingers into Keith’s hair and gripping tight. Within seconds his breathing comes out in short sharp gasps and Keith knows he’s close.

“K-Keith!” he pants, throwing his head back against the door as he unloads into Keith’s mouth.

After it’s all over, after all his come is sucked down, the red paladin releases his cock. Lance drops to the bathroom floor with a thunk, his legs jellied and unable to hold him any longer. Despite his orgasm being long done, Lance continues to breathe heavily, trying to get his heart rate back to normal. He's never had a blowjob that made him dizzy.

“I think I’m going to pass out,” Lance gasps.

“You’re fine, just breathe,” Keith gets to his feet and wipes the corner of his mouth of any residual fluid.

“Does that really...does that stuff taste good?” Lance asks, fingers fumbling in trying to fix his pants.

“Depends on the person,” Keith answers.

“Okay, then, did I taste,” Lance swallows, embarrassment on his face, “good?”

“What do you think?” Keith smirks and gives him a hand, pulling him to his feet.

Lance quirks a brow, hopeful. “Yes?”

“I’d dine on you again, on occasion,” Keith nods. “Now get out of my room. I need to sleep. Alone tonight. You’re not helping my healing process.”

“What? Seriously? After what we just did?” Lance complains.

“We’re not together Lance,” Keith reminds him. “You’re hot, but I don’t actually like you. Not like that. In fact, you’re loud and incredibly obnoxious.”

“Oh yeah?! Well,” Lance tries to come up with a retort. “You’re hot!”

“That...isn’t even an insult,” Keith narrows his eyes.

“Well, I wasn’t finished!” Lance crosses his arms. “You’re hot and I think you’re a lying piece of--you wouldn’t have let me sleep here in the first place if you didn’t at least like me a little . Let alone suck my--You like me! And I’ll prove it!”

“How are you going to do that?” Keith blinks, unconvinced.

“I don’t know,” Lance shrugs but points, persistent in his claim. “But I’ll figure it out!”

“Okay, good luck,” he yawns. “Night.”

Keith turns to go to the bed. It’s a few seconds longer than he expects before he hears the door open and shut behind him. When he looks back he sees that Lance has gone but he's purposefully left his coat on the chair. The gesture makes him shake his head. What a hopeless romantic. Does he think that leaving it here will change his mind? They’re not in a rom-com. Keith treats his wounds, bandages them, and takes some medicine, all the while glancing over at the jacket.

He doesn’t need this romance crap. He didn’t need it on Earth and he doesn’t need it here. It’s too distracting and Voltron needs their entire focus. The expectations that come with dating are...they can’t afford them here. He can’t afford them. Caring hurts, especially if things don’t work out and no one’s worked out for him in the past. If it was just sex, no strings attached, he could do it. But Lance…Lance would want more than that from him.

“Moron,” he sighs, snatching up the jacket from the chair.

He considers throwing it, on the floor or out into the hall. To ensure he won’t entertain even the idea of giving a shit. He’s never needed anyone but himself before. Wanting others to be there is pointless.

He remembers coming home to an empty home, wishing his dad was there waiting for him. Wishing he’d even gotten the chance to meet his mom. Selfish wishes he made every day on Earth. All that ever did was make him feel worse because reality doesn’t care about what a person wants! It’s unrealistic! Selfish! And causes nothing but pain! Because what’s worse than the fall that comes after the high? He promised himself that he would start over in Voltron. That he wouldn't set himself up for failure again.

Nothing ever stays.

He grips the jacket tightly with a shaky hand and clenches his jaw. Looks at it, taking in all it stands for. Him carrying Lance to bed. Them laughing together. Lance shouldering a battered Keith to his room. The warmth clinging to him like a life preserver out at sea. Lance's smile after jumping in the lake. It makes him feel...something.

“Dammit,” he practically growls.

With a huff, he tosses it into the bed with his covers. He gets comfortable in the blankets and pulls the jacket to his chest, inhaling the scent. Grass from the picnic. Food too. And another smell that he recognizes from being buried in the owner's neck. A smell entirely specific to Lance. Cleanser of some kind with some type of citrus. Clean and refreshing. He takes another deep breath before falling asleep.

He dreams of drifting about a crashing sea with nothing to keep him afloat but the strength of Lance to carry him to shore. Normally that would have frightened him. It’s dangerous to rely on others. But this time--clutching the coat to his chest--he feels safe. Maybe just this once, he can feel better knowing that maybe he doesn't have to battle the thrashing ocean waves on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pidge's personal pronouns change somewhere in this chapter so every chapter after this Pidge is referred to as female.
> 
> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 15, 2017

They both expect the next couple of days to be strange but they act as they usually do. They argue, all the time, about Voltron and how to be a better team. Doesn’t matter that the extra arguments stem from Lance’s annoyance with Keith’s aloofness but it’s so typical of their usual behavior that no one notices. Most of them are too busy to care. They don’t notice Keith’s conflicting behaviors where he tries to be in the same room as Lance but at the same time ignores him. Or Lance’s extra baiting, trying to get Keith to just engage in conversation with him.   
  
But when a hulking Galran monster crash lands on Arus, things change. They pull together, arguments temporarily forgotten and annihilate the enemy. At the party afterward, everyone is in a better mood, even Keith. He’s less sour than usual, even looks Lance's way without immediately averting his gaze with a huff. Lance attempts a few jokes to get him and Hunk laughing but Keith is either dense or purposefully trying to annoy him still. Neither would surprise him.   
  
Since none of his jokes hit off he feels a little left out. It leaves him to think about how after leaving Arus they might visit earth sometime. Or never if things get as serious as Allura says it will. The conversation about the beach, garlic knots, and his mom are the straws that break his well-constructed wall. It’s enough to make him lose all appetite and leave the party early and alone.   
  
Keith hears that crack in his voice before he departs but he leaves Lance be. He doesn’t like that look on his face but there are more serious things to worry about than Lance feeling a little homesick. Still, he considers re-extending the offer to let him sleep over again since things are going well with Voltron. Maybe they’ll talk after the party when they get a chance alone.   
  
They haven’t really talked alone for a few days now, let alone slept in the same bed. Lance was still upset about Keith’s relationship comments. It was hard for Keith to explain but it boiled down to no one was ever right for him. Every relationship ended in him being unhappy. And he’s tired of repeating the past. Tired of losing things. Better to not attempt than to get comfortable with something and have it taken away.   
  
But they have more important matters.   
  
While Lance is gone a new development arrives. Pidge wants to leave. So does Hunk. They all miss their families so much. Keith finds it infuriating that they could be so selfish. To think only of themselves when the universe needs their help. How could they put the needs of the few above the needs of all?

He can do it, why can’t they?   
  
An explosion puts all arguments on hold. Screaming fills the air as the Arusians run to escape the falling debris. Pieces crash to the floor, nearly landing on the little creatures. They tell them to evacuate just as the whole building shakes and the power suddenly goes out.   
  
“Oh no!” Allura shouts and leads the way towards the power crystal.   
  
They follow close on Allura’s heels until entering a room full of smoke. Coran is on the ground and slowly bringing himself to his feet. He’s injured but not badly, thankfully.   
  
“The crystal!” she gasps. “Lance!”   
  
Lance?   
  
Keith sees a motionless body close to the center of the explosion. It’s covered in debris and scorch marks. Busted up and limp. It looks like he took the brunt of the blast. To protect Coran. It can’t be. It isn’t until Shiro picks up his body that Keith finds himself able to move. Lance can’t be dead.   
  
“He’s just knocked out, right?” Keith swallows. His heart skips a beat when Shiro checks his breathing.   
  
“It’s bad,” Shiro admits, only a sliver of hope in his eyes.   
  
Lance won’t open his eyes. He barely lets out a pained groan before going silent, no energy for anything other than breathing. Without power, he can’t be healed. If they don’t hurry, Lance will certainly die. The thought alone makes Keith cold all over.   
  
Keith tries not to think about that and instead focus on what he can do, not what he can’t. Staying there, worrying won’t help the situation. He can’t heal Lance. He can’t fix the power source. But he can help the Arusians. That’s all he can do to keep his mind from the broken and battered paladin. It isn’t much but it’s better than standing there doing nothing.   
  
But things get even worse. 

He realizes too late that the attack on the village is a diversion to get into the castle. The castle where Lance is lying hurt and defenseless. The particle barrier goes up on the castle just as he’s rushing back with Allura, making his heart plummet into his stomach. If he’d been a little faster--He beats the shield with a feral yell.   
  
Now he really can’t do anything. He pants, his breaths caught between panic and anger. He’s useless. And Lance is helpless...in there with those...monsters.   
  
Is he still alive? Did the Galra kill him? No, Shiro would never let them. But what if Shiro can’t take them all? Keith hits the barrier again with a frustrated shout, this time with his sword. Each strike more desperate than the last. 

He’s going to lose  _everything_ !  _They’re_ going to lose everything!   
  
Thank god for Pidge and Allura. It’s a long night as they take out the the castle’s generator. It keeps the ship from taking off for now, at least until Coran can get back with Hunk. But they still have a barrier blocking their entry. Every few minutes Keith strikes it in frustration. He keeps hoping the next hit will be enough to break it down but it never does.   
  
“We’ll bring down the barrier Keith,” Allura assures him.   
  
Keith just glares through the shield and smacks his fist on it again in frustration.   
  
“Save your anger for the Galra,” she suggests.   
  
Oh, he’s going to unleash it on them. He’s got a wellspring of energy bubbling with his rage. He isn’t worried about it running out anytime soon. Half of the anger is directed at himself for not being faster, smarter, and stronger. But the other half--oh, there’s more than enough to go around to every Galra soldier that dares to stand in his way.

  
With Allura’s instructions, they’re able to bring down the barrier and get inside. Keith’s never run so fast in his life, keeping his eyes peeled for white armor with blue accents. Each corner he turns brings relief and new worries. No limp body tossed on the floor anywhere. No signs of blood. Where is he? If Lance is dead he’s going to--there won’t be a safe place in space for these monsters.

That’s a promise.   
  
Soon they make it face to face with Sendak, Pidge clutched in his giant claw. Behind him, Lance is sitting up, his eyes open! Alive! He raises his gun weakly and fires it into Sendak’s back. A direct hit and the Galra shouts in pain, a reminder to Keith that there’s still a fight to finish.   
  
Working together they take him down! Pidge and Keith fight him, even Shiro pitches in despite being restrained. Pidge literally disarms him with an upward swipe, separating his machine upgraded arm from his body. With a final kick from Keith, he’s shoved backward as a small barrier comes up. He pounds on it inside, just as feral as Keith was moments ago. It takes them a second to breathe and realize the fight’s over.   
  
They won. For now.   
  
Keith drops his bayard and hurries over to Lance.    
  
“Lance, you okay?” he asks, extending his hand to lift him as he normally would. Lance winces trying to pull himself up, reminding Keith how badly he’s hurt. He takes a knee instead, still grasping his hand.   
  
“We did it. We are a good team,” he smiles. Keith manages to smile back. “Man, I'm...tired…”   
  
And that’s all he gets out before passing out in Keith’s arms. It sets a panic in him as he looks around for help.   
  
“He’ll be alright,” Allura assures him. “Coran should be back soon, let’s get him to the infirmary.”   
  
He hooks an arm around Lance’s side and pulls his arm over his shoulder. The whole way there he just listens to Lance’s breathing, making sure nothing is irregular. Bruises dot the whole of his face. He can only imagine how bad the internal damage is. He survived an explosion and being tossed around like a ragdoll. No way Keith is about to let him die now. Not after all the work he put into saving his ass.   
  
“Don’t you dare die,” he mumbles. “I’ll kick your ass and you’ll never sleep over again. You hear me, Lance?”   
  
Lance rouses and groans.  “My everything hurts,” Lance complains. “Blurry. Can’t see. Where...?”    
  
“Just a little farther,” Keith assures him.   
  
“Thanks, Keith,” he manages. "I'm sorry...we fought."   
  
Before Keith can answer Lance passes out, his body slack.  Once the power is running again and Lance is set up inside the pod, everyone crowds around to look. Internal bleeding and a concussion, along with a few broken ribs. Allura lets them know that a day in there should be enough to heal him with minimal side effects. After all, they’ve never used humans in it before.   
  
All they can do is wait.   
  
Keith checks on the pod every hour. He’s discrete. Mostly he walks by and peeks inside. If someone’s in there he doesn’t go in. But if it’s empty he enters and stands in front of the pod searching for signs of change. Lance looks like he’s sleeping inside but not soundly. His brow is furrowed in worry much like Keith’s own lately.   
  
Does it hurt, he wonders. Does he dream?   
  
Keith can’t get get any rest. Nothing but tossing and turning. He’s never lost sleep because of someone else before. He tries exercising before bed and sleeping with Lance’s jacket. If anything, the jacket makes it worse. A constant reminder that Lance isn’t actually walking around. What if it’s all they have of him if he doesn’t make it? God, why does he keep thinking this way?   
  
“This is ridiculous,” Keith grumbles, getting up and tossing the jacket onto the bed in frustration.   
  
He waits until everyone finally goes to sleep for the night before entering the infirmary again. He finds Lance looks better than a few hours ago at least. The bruises on his face are gone. Good. Lance’ll have a shitfit if his beautiful face looks marred by anything.

Keith sits and leans his back against the pod to get some sleep but it’s not as fruitful as he hopes but he dozes a little. After a few hours, he gets up, cracks his neck and looks into the pod. 

What if it doesn’t heal him all the way? What if there’s permanent damage? If he’d been in the crystal room with him or maybe if he hadn’t let him go off on his own...if they'd just talked a little more maybe he wouldn't have left the party...if they hadn’t been arguing...What if he doesn’t wake at all?   
  
“Stop it,” he quietly scolds himself. “He’ll be fine. He always is.”   
  
Why is he so worried then?   
  
“Don’t worry, Keith,” Pidge comes in.   
  
“I’m not. Allura said he’d be fine,” Keith turns from the pod as if it proves he isn’t concerned.   
  
“Then why do you keep coming in here,” Pidge raises a brow.   
  
“No reason,” he shrugs.   
  
“Sure,” Pidge rolls his eyes. “You know, nothing bad is going to happen to you just because you admit that you give a damn.”   
  
“How do you know?” he asks in earnest, no spite in his tone.   
  
“I’m still alive and I, uh...care about someone,” Pidge adjusts his glasses with a shrug.   
  
“Your girlfriend?” he sighs.   
  
“No! I don’t have--” Pidge blushes furiously. “There’s someone. And I like them okay? And I feel I’m better off for caring about them. Makes me feel stronger. Work harder.”   
  
Maybe Pidge is right. But he doesn’t want him to be right. It uproots everything he’s used to. Caring about someone...gives him a weakness others can exploit. It’s easier if he doesn’t care. Means he can fight without worry. He can lose someone and still feel whole. And if he admits to caring about Lance as more than a teammate…   
  
Does that mean Lance was right? That he cares? Why does that burn him up? That little shit proved it without doing a damn thing…Lance’ll rub it in his face the minute he finds out how long he spent watching over him like a mother goose. He’ll never hear the end of it but it’s better to hear his gloating than it is to hear nothing at all.   
  
“Oh, good morning Pidge, Keith,” Alura stops in. “Checking on Lance?”   
  
“He’s really going to be okay, right?” Pidge asks for Keith.   
  
“Don’t worry, Pidge,” she smiles and taps on the screen. “Looks like it’s all going well. Head injury mostly healed. Broken ribs repaired. He should be out in a few vargas, good as new. Mostly.”   
  
“What does that mean?” Keith frowns, not happy to hear that particular diagnosis.   
  
“There may be a few side effects, all temporary,” she explains. “The most common: dry mouth, drowsiness, and chemical/emotional imbalance.”   
  
“And uncommonly?” Keith asks, still maintaining his disapproving frown.   
  
“He did suffer a head injury. There may be some memory loss. If so, it should only be temporary. An hour, day, or week,” she clicks a few buttons to check on the status again. “I’m not concerned about it.”   
  
Keith makes a mental note to never get into one of these pods. The last thing he wants is some crazy machine probing around in his head. He’s keeping what few good memories he has, thank you very much.   
  
A couple hours later the whole group is waiting for Allura to let him out of the pod but distraction comes easily to their group. It isn’t until they’re ten ticks into a measuring contest that anyone realizes that Lance is out of the pod. It's of great relief to all of them to see that he’s his usual self. He even flirts with Allura but there’s a certain lack of recognition in his eyes when he looks at Keith. It’s further confirmed when he doesn’t recall Keith coming to his rescue or carrying him to the infirmary. It’s as if nothing in the past week ever happened.   
  
It worries Keith a little but not too much as Allura seems certain the side effects are temporary. No, the memory loss doesn’t worry him as much as the emotional imbalance she mentioned. Lance was already a pretty emotional person. He can’t imagine what it’ll be like when Lance goes to sleep that night. Dark, alone, and thinking of home. It’s best to keep an eye on him until then, just to make sure he doesn’t have a break down.   
  
*****   
  
Keith is freaking him out.   
  
While they ready themselves to save the Balmerans he notices Keith is watching him constantly, a serious frown on his face. His eyes flick and follow him in each room they’re in like he's waiting for something to happen. Like he’s anticipating a fight. But he won’t argue with Lance. He’d go so far as to say it's almost as if Keith’s taking care to avoid hostility. It’s weird. 

Lance can’t figure it out. If he’s mad he should fight, right? He won’t even take the opportunities Lance gives to start something. If Lance leaves a room, Keith leaves moments after keeping a discreet distance. Not discreet enough though. Eventually, Lance whirls on him with annoyance on his face.   
  
“Why are you following me?” Lance asks, jabbing his finger into Keith's chest.   
  
“I’m not,” Keith tells him swiping the offending finger aside.   
  
“Then stop eyeing me like a piece of meat! Like a vulture. It’s weird!”   
  
“I wasn’t!” Keith insists.   
  
“Then what are you doing?” Lance nearly shouts.   
  
“I was just--whatever. Never mind,” he grumbles and stomps off into his room.   
  
“What's his problem?” Lance asks Pidge.   
  
“He kept checking the pod after you went in. I think Keith was worried about you,” Pidge whispers.    
  
Keith comes back out and shoves something into Lance's chest. Hard. He grumbles something along the lines of ‘I can’t believe this’, then goes back to his room and shuts the door. Lance looks down and sees his jacket in his hands. It feels important. He can't recall why Keith would have it.   
  
“Why does he care?” Lance wonders quietly to himself. “It’s not like we’re dating.”

_We’re not together, Lance.  
  
_ _We’re not?_

His head hurts a little when he thinks about it. He shrugs on his jacket and tries going about his day. There are repairs to make to the castle and messes to clean up from the explosion. No time for Keith’s grumpy temper tantrum.   
  
But he just can’t stop thinking. 

It’s like he’s forgetting something important. The feeling only gets stronger when Keith watches him from across the room. What is this nagging feeling? Keith keeps sighing, shaking his head each time Lance looks over at him. It hurts, right in his chest, for some reason. Like he should be over there, closer. But that’s just weird, isn’t it? 

Keith and him?

Lance hides his blush under his hood but then notices something else. The inside smells different. Why does he know that this is the exact smell of Keith? Did he sleep with it? That sounds familiar too and his head swims with memories.   
  
“I feel dizzy,” Lance touches his head, rubbing his temple. Keith eyes him but doesn’t approach.   
  
“You should head to bed early then,” Coran suggests and takes the mop.   
  
Lance nods and sways his way back to his room. It isn’t until he closes the door that a wash of memories crashes over him. So much noise that he has to cover his ears. Overwhelming homesickness pulls at his gut. Memories flash before him. Keith in his bed, snuggling into his chest. Training on the deck, sweating bodies close and panting.   
  
“What’s happening?” Lance shakes his head.   
  
Kisses in Keith’s bed. Groping after being brought to tears.   
  
“Is this real?” he asks, his eyes watering. God, his head is splitting!   
  
Rolling around near the lake. Touching under a black shirt, tongue in a welcoming mouth. Keith’s elated face as his body shakes, releasing in a steaming hot shower. And then his back against cold metal as his cock is sucked empty. Keith’s annoyed face as they argued. The sound of a bomb, feels like getting punched in the everything. Keith wasn’t annoyed with him anymore. Why? He recognizes the look, worry and...guilt? Did Keith think Lance’s injuries were his fault?    
  
“I feel sick,” Lance announces. He recalls how shitty he treated Keith only hours ago when he was just trying to keep an eye on him. Trying to make sure he was okay.   
  
He runs to the bathroom and hurls all the food in his stomach. God, what is happening to him? Lance remembers everything now, no problem. All of it happened. But why does he feel so overwhelmed? Like everything is bigger than it should be? It just feels like it's too much crushing down on him at once. 

He feels heavy and weak like he needs a good cry, the same way he does when he misses Varadero Beach. Except this feels worse. Much worse. Everything is just so overstimulating. The smells. The lights. With a flick of a switch he kills the light leaving only the glow from the bathroom. After falling into the bed he clutches the pillow and just cries into it.   
  
A few minutes he thinks. That’s all it usually takes. But it’s not letting up. The tears just keep coming and his body won’t stop shaking all over. Then the door suddenly opens. Lance sits up, tears streaming down his face. It’s Keith and he’s holding a pillow under his arm.   
  
“I figured this would happen,” Keith sighs. “Scoot over.”   
  
“What are you doing here?” Lance asks as he sits up trying to wipe the tears away but to no avail. More just replace them.   
  
Keith tosses his pillow onto the bed and shoves Lance until he moves over. He pushes Lance until he’s laying back down then pulls him to his chest in an embracing hug. He isn’t sure what's happening but Lance knows a reassuring hug when he feels one. In seconds, he’s already crying into Keith’s shirt.   
  
“I c-can’t stop c-crying,” Lance blubbers and hiccups.   
  
“It’s a side effect. It’ll pass,” Keith rubs his back. “Homesick?”   
  
“Yes. N-no. I don’t know,” Lance shudders, nearly hyperventilating. “It feels...I’m scared. Sad. Angry. I’m c-confused? It’s hard to breathe! I-I--”   
  
“You’re having a panic attack. Just breath,” Keith runs a hand through his hair and down his neck to his back then up again.   
  
Lance takes deep slow breaths in time with Keith’s rubbing hand. In as it goes up to his hair, out as it goes down his back. Finally, he can breathe again but tears still make their way out. Keith just calmly pats his head and neck for nearly an hour before Lance finally speaks again.   
  
“Sorry I yelled at you,” Lance whispers. “Earlier.”   
  
“Don’t worry about it. It wasn't your fault. I should have been calmer.”   
  
“Why are you here, Keith?” Lance asks, sniffling.   
  
Keith doesn’t answer.   
  
“Pidge said you slept outside the pod,” Lance tells him. “Is that true?”   
  
“I couldn’t sleep in my bed,” Keith sighs. “Your jacket was no help.”   
  
“Oh yeah?” Lance chuckles, his voice cracking. He starts to laugh while crying. “Ha haha, you...you care about me...Loser. You said you didn’t like me.”   
  
“I…” Keith hesitates biting at his lip. Is this really going to help?   
  
“Admit it,” Lance squeezes him tight.   
  
“I do...like you, Lance,” Keith manages.   
  
“More than a little. Go on. Say it.”   
  
“More than a little, I guess,” he exhales.   
  
“Haha. Score. I win. Was that so hard to say?” Lance chuckles, wiping his eyes.   
  
“Incredibly,” Keith smirks, but it’s not the truth. It was surprisingly easy to say and he feels better for it. Weird.   
  
Lance looks up while Keith looks down. His eyes are red, his cheeks puffy. Yes, he’s been ugly crying but he wants to kiss him regardless. Keith takes a hand and tilts Lance’s face up to get a kiss. 

It feels different for the both of them. Lance finds the kiss tender. Not charged like before. It’s gentle. Keith is being gentle with him. It’s not something Keith’s done before, with anyone, so it feels especially strange. When their mouths separate Lance can’t keep his shut.   
  
“Did I really have to almost die for you to admit that you like me? Why couldn’t you have said it before?” Lance asks.   
  
“I was...no reason,” Keith answers, looking away.   
  
“Just say it.”   
  
Keith holds his tongue, a slight grumble in his throat. He’s already admitted enough today. Lance’s hands reach under his shirt and just when he thinks Lance is about the start groping him the fingers tickle at his sides.   
  
“Lance! Stop!” he tries to hold back but Lance is getting right in there. “No! Stop t-tickling m-me!”   
  
“Say it! Or I’ll never stop!” Lance threatens.   
  
He can’t hold it back any longer and he bursts into laughter. Lance grins at the sight. If only one of his jokes was good enough to do this, to make Keith give such a big smiling laugh. Lance goes into overdrive, getting right at his pits. He squirms and tries to resist but it's useless.  It’s too much so he has to submit.   
  
“I was scared!” Keith shouts and Lance stops tickling.   
  
The room is deathly quiet except for Keith’s heavy breathing.   
  
“What do you mean? You’re never scared,” Lance stares perplexed.   
  
“I don’t want to get attached to anyone,” Keith pants. 

He sits up and turns away, clasping his hands together. This is not a conversation he thought he’d be having, and not with Lance. Lance scoots in next to him and tilts his head to look at his face.   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“Cause then...I have something to lose and I hate that,” Keith runs a hand through his hair. “But when you were lying there...I thought...what if this is it? What if he never wakes up again? And the last thing we did was fight. So stupid--It was scary, thinking that all my thoughts halted because I was worried about you. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t focus. I can’t believe I let you get this close.”   
  
“Wow, Keith,” Lance scratches his head and then laughs. “Sounds like you’re in love. I knew you’d fall for me eventually. I mean, who doesn’t? I am quite the catch. Net me now before someone else fishes me up. ”   
  
“Shut up,” Keith shoves and pins him down. “It’s not love. I don’t know what it is. But it’s definitely not that.”   
  
“Oh yeah?” Lance sits up and captures Keith’s lips with his own. He slips in his tongue and tastes the inside of his mouth until Keith lets out a sigh. He needily pushes forward and bites at Lance’s lips.   
  
He doesn’t believe Keith, not even for a second. Not with the way he pushes forward hungrily, grinding his hips against Lance. Not with how he worried about him. The way he held him close and comforted him. It’s easy to see the truth, no matter how the red paladin denies it. It’s obvious to anyone who cares to look hard enough. He’s just not ready to say it and Lance is cool with that. There’s no hurry. Like Keith said, they can just enjoy things as they are.   
  
“Okay, you’re not in love with me and we’re not together,” Lance tells him when he stops for a breath. “But let me know if you change your mind. I’ll uh...do something special for you.”   
  
“Special? Like what?” Keith squints, suspicious.   
  
“Not telling,” Lance grins. “But it’ll be great.”   
  
“Hmph. If you say so,” Keith huffs. “It’s late. We should get some sleep for tomorrow.”   
  
Keith stands and Lance grabs his hand.   
  
“You’re leaving?”   
  
“You didn’t invite me to stay,” Keith explains.   
  
“What are you a vampire?” Lance snorts before switching to a dramatic Romanian accent. “You are henceforth invited to sleep in my bed, creature of the night! Is it too bold to assume I be welcomed to your chamber henceforth as well?”   
  
“I did say anytime,” Keith smirks.   
  
“Great,” Lance chuckles and tugs Keith back to the bed.   
  
They shimmy into the covers and spoon like before. Lance, the big spoon, clinging to Keith, the little spoon. He buries his face into Keith’s hair and takes a deep breath before sliding an arm around to hold him close. Lance falls asleep humming an unfamiliar song in Keith’s ear. Keith stays awake a moment longer, appreciating the warmth at his neck and back with a smile.   
  
Maybe it is selfish. And maybe it’ll never last. Who knows. But right now he doesn’t care how this might end. That's a long ways off and they’re just getting started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 15, 2017

This is embarrassing, he thinks while looking around. With a sigh he drops to his knees and tries pulling free, to no avail. How did this happen? Cuffed to a weird alien tree-rock in the middle of nowhere. All because he wanted to provoke Keith into jealousy. He doesn’t think it worked.

Keith definitely saw him flirting with that alien girl, so it’s not as if he didn’t notice. His eyes and ears took in what was happening and looked away. He just didn’t give a shit. Keith just doesn’t do jealousy it seems. A good thing when he thinks about it.

Then it turned out she was playing him. Which was fair, since he was using her to inspire Keith to action. He had it coming, he can admit. But then Blue got taken and he couldn’t do anything about it as she was airlifted away from him. It turned into a nightmare scenario that he desperately wanted to take back. What if they get away with stealing--

“Hey Lance, got your lion back,” Keith affirms into the receiver.

What a relief. He can feel the tension melt away with just that little sentence. Now he just needs to get free. And after some playful back and forth, Keith decides to come free him from the tree. It’s not long before the red lion lands just out of view behind him. He hears the cockpit open and Keith hop down with a tsk-tsk.

“Look at you,” Keith sighs and shakes his head.

“I know, I know. Just get it all out now,” Lance rolls his eyes. “It’s embarrassing enough as it is without you commenting on it.”

Keith takes off his helmet and leaves it on his Lion’s claw. Then he takes a couple of steps forward, stopping a few feet from Lance’s spot to admire the view. He lets out a whistle.

“I dunno Lance, looks good on you,” Keith comments. “Probably nothing less than what you deserve after getting your Lion stolen.”

“Ha ha ha,” Lance fake laughs. “If you’re done tormenting me, I’d like to be free now.”

“Why would I do that?” Keith asks. “You look great bound and on your knees. In fact,” Keith hums. “I almost prefer you this way.”

He has to wonder if Keith is teasing him for being an ass earlier. For flirting with that alien girl right in front of him. And then having the nerve to ask for help. A little teasing is pretty tame considering what he could say. Of course, he could be entirely serious. And now he’s imagining himself tied up and at Keith's mercy. Gagged with Keith’s--Lance flushes pink while looking at the ground.

He’s never considered blowing Keith until that particular image.

Keith lets him stew in his embarrassment for a moment before tapping a few buttons on the cuffs. After a few blips the light blinks out and the bands fall off his hands to the ground with a clink. Lance sits up and massages his wrists with a pout.

Lance feels like he has to explain himself, though he doesn’t know why.

“I wouldn’t have done anything with her, you know?” Lance lets him know.

“I know. You were trying to get under my skin,” Keith shakes his head. “What were you hoping I’d do? Get mad? Storm over and tell her to back off?”

“Why didn’t you?” Lance wonders.

“I wasn’t worried,” Keith shrugs. “We’re not dating but you would have still seen it as cheating and you’re not the type.”

It’s true. As flirtatious as he is, he isn't one to go behind someone’s back. Not after that unfortunate incident in grade school. He still has a scar from that bucket.

So Keith trusts him to behave. Something about that warms his face. How many people, in the universe, does Keith trust? Not many, he guesses. Maybe he should be a little more considerate in the future.

“Come on, time to get back. We still have to help the Balmorans,” Keith says heading back towards his Lion. “Let’s go.”

Lance scrambles to his feet, grabbing his things before following close on the red paladin's heels. He climbs up after Keith to find him at the top extending a hand to pull him in. He takes it and Keith yanks him into the cockpit. Roomy, just like his lion. Keith takes his place in the chair as the Lion readies itself.

“Should I just stand over here or-”

“Sit wherever you want,” Keith says over his shoulder while pressing buttons. "You don't want to be standing when we get moving."

Lance licks his lips, then grins. Sit? Anywhere he wants? He boldly takes a seat between Keith’s legs.

“Uh, alright,” says Keith, not sure what else to say.

“If I’m in the way-” Lance starts.

He’s definitely in the way but Keith shakes his head and takes off.

He enjoys the more forward Lance more and more each day. If he didn’t have to have his hands on the controls, they would be on Lance’s hips. A shame they’re wearing their paladin armor. He can’t feel the whole of Lance’s ass pressing against his crotch. But that doesn’t stop the rush of blood at the thought of it.

Would they fuck too? At some point? God, Keith seriously hopes so but doesn't allow himself to get too hyped. It could be a long way off.

Now that Lance is more open to how Keith operates there haven’t been any conversations about dating. Or the expectations that come with dating. They don't spend every waking moment together. They don't feed each other. Sometimes they train together but most times they give each other space. Unless it's time for bed.

Sometimes Lance will show up in the middle of the night and just crawl under his covers, even when Keith is long asleep. He curls up next to him and presses his face into his back with a tired sigh. No hesitation. That’s when he knows it’s homesickness.

Then there are nights where Lance lays in the bed and plays with Keith’s hair and nuzzles into his neck, lips wet from nervously licking them. That’s when Keith knows it’s horniness and he usually rolls over to oblige him. A little making out before Lance pulls back, nervous about going further. If they do more, it’ll be at Lance’s speed and these bolder moves suggest he’s working his way up there.

When they get into the hanger of the ship, Keith takes his time opening up the cockpit. He doesn’t want to hurry along anywhere. He likes how it feels to have Lance in his lap. He can’t wait to try it in their normal clothes. Or with nothing at all.

As they land they hear Coran’s voice resounding through the castle.

“We’ve got about ten Vargas before arriving at the Balmera,” he announces over the speakers.

“Less than half a day,” Keith elaborates.

“That’s not a lot of time,” says Lance. “Are you ready to fight?”

“Always,” Keith nods.

Not Lance. Well, not at the moment. He’s more nervous about his first real mission than he is excited about it. It’s a 60/40 split. After all, he was unconscious and almost died the last time they fought any Galra. Who knows what could happen this time? Any of them could get hurt. The Team. Himself. Keith. Not the most reassuring of thoughts.

“You worried?” Keith wonders.

“Who me? No way!” Lance puts up a front.

Keith doesn’t buy it. The blue paladin is nervous, edgy. The last thing they need in a fight. He places his hands on Lance’s hips and grinds a little against him. Lance lets out a surprised noise and Keith smirks.

“Yeah, you’re not worried at all,” Keith rolls his eyes, pushing Lance to his feet so he can stand. “Want to go the training deck? Or do you want work out your nerves here?”

Lance flushes at the implication that they could do something right there in the cockpit. What if they were caught? The sound carried through their helmets to the others? Or a vid popped open over the big screen? No one needs to find out that way. On top of it all, they had a mission they need to prepare for. Keith is asking him to be responsible or selfish and man does he want to be selfish.

“Can we do both?” Lance asks, watching as Keith pulls off his helmet.

He clicks a few buttons on the inside and puts it on the floor.

“Depends on what you want to do,” Keith tells him and pulls Lance’s helmet off too. He clicks a few buttons on it as well.

“What are you doing?”

“Being discrete. This way our audio and visual won’t transmit to the team but we can hear them if they need us,” Keith says and puts the blue helmet on the ground. “Hunk taught me.”

Once it’s on the ground, Keith cups the back of Lance’s head and presses their mouths together. Lance returns it with a kiss of his own, trying to get his tongue into Keith’s hungry mouth and getting a bite because of it.

“Ouch, you always bite so hard,” Lance comments, wary of sticking his tongue back in.

“Yeah,” he says, grazing his teeth over Lance’s neck. He bites at the flesh there making Lance melt with a groan. “You complain a lot for someone who likes it rough.”

Keith takes Lance’s hands and pins them over his head making the blue paladin gasp. He presses his body in for deep kisses and curses again at the reminder that they’re in their armor. Too much padding, damn it all. Maybe they can just make out for now but he's hungry for more than that. He's been craving the taste of Lance lately.

“It feels a little stuffy in here,” pants Lance.

It’s all Keith needs to hear. He pulls and tugs at Lances armor until it’s on the floor, all the while kissing and nibbling on his lips, his ears, his neck. Keith gives him teeth marks down to his collarbones like he's staked a claim on Lance's body, though he’s careful to avoid deep bites on his neck. In moments Lance's armor is abandoned to the ground and he's in just a tank and shorts, making it painfully obvious that he’s hard.

Keith loses no time and goes to his knees, pulling the shorts down. Lance has no objections. The last blow job he’d gotten from Keith nearly wiped his brain of any previous one he’d ever had. So he’s more than up for another one. But he feels a little guilty always getting such special treatment.

Maybe he could--he flushes in remembrance of earlier.

“What about you?” Lance asks as his dick is revealed.

“What about me?”

“Don’t you...want something too?” Lance swallows as Keith slides his tongue from the base to the tip.

“Are you _ready_ to do _this_ for me?” Keith pauses and looks up.

“Uh...well,” Lance gasps as Keith engulfs him. “I don’t know...I’ve never...sucked cock before.”

“If you’re hesitant, then you’re not ready,” Keith tells him and strokes Lance’s slick dick.

“But-ah!” Lance bites his lip as Keith starts with his mouth again. Each time he goes deep Lance loses the ability to speak. “It’s not--ah!--It’s not fair--ah!--to you. Shouldn’t you get--god--something too?”

Ideally, he’d agree, but Lance clearly isn’t ready to perform that particular act. Too nervous about it. Too new to this. Keith isn’t about to ask him to get to his knees and get sucking, no matter how much the image thrills him. Lance on his knees, his hands bound behind him. Damn, he wishes he’d grabbed those cuffs when they were down there. His erection presses so hard against his armor, it’s almost painful.

He supposes there’s no harm in testing how ready he is.

“Don’t move,” Keith tells him. “Just...stroke yourself for a minute.”

Lance nods and sighs as he pumps his swollen dick. Keith has to admit, he likes when Lance is so obedient. When they’re like this it’s the only time he listens and does what he’s told, no arguments. Keith takes off his own armor until he’s down to his boxers as well.

“If you’re serious about trying...let’s see how you feel about fingers first,” Keith bites his own bottom lip. “Open your mouth, Lance.”

Keith presses his index and middle finger into Lance’s wet panting mouth. He instructs him to suck on them, to use his tongue to swirl around them. He does so and Keith’s eyes lid at the feeling of being sucked on. Spit drips out of the corner of Lance’s mewling mouth and down his chin making Keith let out an excited sigh. He’s not bad, and damn if he doesn’t look good doing it.

“You’re doing great,” Keith praises with a sigh, reveling in the feel. “How about another finger? Can you handle that?”

Lance flushes scarlet with a moan and nods. God, it feels better than he thought it would, having something in his mouth. He’s lost his stroking rhythm, opting to use his hands to brace himself on the wall of the cockpit instead. It doesn’t matter to his dick, which is still as hard as before. But Keith's not about to let it just sit there, untouched.

Keith slathers his hand with his own saliva and moves close to squeeze both of their dicks together. Lance keens but Keith stifles him with his fingers, making Lance moan more but quieter. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Lance likes being muffled. He strokes them together, slowly until he can figure a proper hold and speed. Lance’s body turns red, the blush traveling down his chest.

Keith removes his dripping fingers from Lance’s mouth, sliding them over the blue paladin’s panting lips. He switches the stroking hand out to the slick wet one, making them both shudder pleasantly. Lance’s head falls into Keith’s shoulder as he relishes the feeling.

“I wanna d-do it,” Lance gasps into Keith’s chest.

“Do what?” Keith nibbles on his ear.

“S-suck your cock,” he answers and lets out a sharp gasp when Keith bites him.

“Then do it,” Keith tells him.

Lance pulls him by the arm and shoves him into the chair. He’s a little surprised by his forwardness, but not unpleasantly. Keith’s eyes go wide and his face flushes three shades brighter at the sight of Lance taking to his knees. He still looks meek, almost shy, but the blush on his cheeks says he's heady with lust. Lance slides his hands up Keith’s thighs before lowering his mouth.

Keith lets out a ragged groan at the feel Lance’s wet mouth. And the sight, Christ. It’s not something he ever expected. Lance, willingly going to his hands and knees, silencing himself on Keith’s cock. He sucks and swirls his tongue like Keith told him. Keith looks on breathlessly as Lance submissively bobs over him with a needy moan.

It’s way better than just fingers.

Lance squeezes on his thighs as he goes up and down the length. Keith doesn’t bother holding back his sighs when Lance tries going deep. He cradles the back of the blue paladins head, massaging his scalp. Feels encouraging those fingers squeezing and guiding him.

“You’re...doing great,” Keith tells him, tilting his head back with a hissing sigh. Lance simply sighs, his eyes lidded and lusty, happy to hear he’s doing something right despite being inexperienced.

With some practice, Lance might get better than he is. It’s that chatty mouth of his, he really knows how to use it. Keith wants to smirk but can’t; the pleasure’s too much. Lance is having a good time too from what he can tell. He can feel a humming vibration deep in Lance’s throat from all the times he moans and sighs. It tickles Keith in a way that travels up his spine in little jolts.

“Lance,” Keith sighs, gripping firmly on the head between his legs. “Faster.”

He acquiesces and bobs down deeper and faster. Keith can barely hold it in when Lance’s hand slides down from his thigh and cradles his balls. Just like he’d done to Lance in his bathroom.

So he does pay attention. He swallows as Lance lowers his mouth to start licking and sucking his balls. His other hand pumps his cock in fast strokes, coaxing a great moan out of Keith.

“L-Lance,” he pants, his head back as far as it will go, his hips scooting forward and almost slipping out of the chair. “Unless...you want...a facial...you need...to move...and soon.”

Lance sits up straight, face out of the way and pumps faster. Harder. He looks so excited just to see Keith unraveling. It starts to wash over him, that feeling low in his gut rising until--

“Lance!” he gasps, grasping the arms of his chair as his body shakes.

Come spurts out of him, half of it landing on his stomach, the other half dribbling down Lance’s fingers, coating them in salty stickiness. As Lance is about to remove his hand, Keith takes it and brings it to his mouth, licking and sucking on his fingers hungrily. The sight sends a twitch through Lance’s dick, still painfully hard and ready to release.

“Give me your shirt,” Keith lets out a sigh. “I need to clean up. And then I’ll finish you.”

Lance pulls it off and hands it to Keith who mops up the mess. It takes no more than a few seconds. He tosses the shirt and pulls Lance to his feet in front of the chair, his dick at the perfect height to suck from his seat. He hooks his thumbs into Lance’s hips and pulls to fill his mouth.

“Keith,” he moans and sways a little off balance.

“Put your knees up on the chair,” Keith tells him. “You can use your arms on the chair back for support.”

He does so, clambering up into the chair, bringing his dick closer to Keith’s welcoming mouth. Lance pants and moans and shudders as Keith works on him. His hands clench tight on the chair back each time Keith deep throats him.

He’s not sure why he does it but...Lance entwines his fingers tight into dark hair and begins to rock back and forth, thrusting into Keith unbidden. It changes the whole feel of it, making it feel primal. Animal. Like Lance is in charge. Keith isn't sucking him, Lance is fucking his mouth. Making him take his cock. It’s bolder than either of them thought he could be.

Keith loves it. The feel of fingers tight in his hair. The force with which Lance holds him in place. God, he can already taste the precome dripping out of Lance. The taste reminds him of what's to come, literally. He can’t wait and groans contentedly, his hands squeezing Lance’s ass, encouraging the thrusts to go faster. He doesn’t want to wait any longer.

“K-Keith,” Lance pants, fucking his hot mouth. He's not going to be able to keep this up for long at this pace. It feels too good. “This is--I’m--”

“You can do it,” Keith lets him know it's okay to finish in his mouth. "Give it to me."

“Are you--god--sure?” Lance asks.

“I like the way you taste, Lance,” he affirms and takes the cock deep.

At that declaration Lance lets out a mighty groan, thrusting and spilling come into Keith’s mouth. He can feel Keith swallowing it, licking it clean from him as his body shakes.

Lance falls back onto his heels, firmly in Keith’s lap, and collapses his head into Keith’s shoulder almost wheezing. Keith reminds him to take slow breaths and rubs his back a little until he does. He’s slick with sweat. They both are. Lance nuzzles into his neck with a sigh. Normally he’s nothing but grins but he looks bothered. Something weighing on him.

“Is this how it’s always going to be?” Lance suddenly asks. “Quickies while hiding.”

“We’re not hiding. We’re being discrete,” Keith explains.

“I know...but I just...I like you, Keith,” Lance turns his head a little and looks into his eyes. It makes Keith’s heart thump a little louder. “I don’t want to feel like what we’re doing is...wrong. And that’s how it feels when we hide it.”

It isn’t wrong, what they’re doing. It’s just...complicated.

“I’m not saying we tell people we’re dating, cause we’re not, right?” Lance smiles pathetically. “But I don’t know...I don’t want to hide how I feel about you around the others. It’s exhausting. And it makes me feel like...I’m something to be ashamed of.”

“You want them to know we’re...” Keith settles on the word he thinks best describes them. “...intimate?”

“Yeah...kinda,” Lance shrugs and sits up. He wants to be able to flirt with Keith in front of them. Or sit on his lap. Or lean on him. Or just kiss his cheek and not have to wait until they’re alone to do so. Maybe give his ass a pinch.

“Okay,” says Keith. There’s a long pause before Lance figures out there isn’t more to the sentence.

“Okay?”

“Lance, the only reason we were keeping it a secret in the first place was because _you_ seemed self-conscious about liking a guy. Like _you_ were ashamed.”

“Me?!”

“Lance, you still check the halls before knocking on my door,” Keith points out.

“That’s...yeah, okay. That’s fair,” Lance nods.

“I was discrete because it’s what you wanted. And I didn’t want to make you out yourself,” Keith explains. “I don’t care what the team thinks. Tell them whatever.”

“Really?” Lance starts to smile, a real one.

“If you think you’re ready,” Keith shrugs.

“Yeah, I think...I think I am,” Lance nods.

“Maybe after the mission though. Everyone’s got enough on their plate,” Keith suggests and gently directs Lance off of him so he can stand and get dressed.

They pull on their armor again. Once it’s on they give each other the once over.

Keith has sex hair and a new hickey on his neck that Lance didn’t even remember giving him. It’s hidden enough by the long hair though. With his helmet on no one will notice. Lance looks disheveled. Keith straightens his armor a little, tugging it into the right position, before giving him the okay. Lance tucks the dirty tank into the helmet under his arm, hoping to get it cleaned at the earliest possible time. He can toss it in his room before the mission.

They look terrible but it will have to do for now.

They have a planet to liberate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Canon occurrences are mentioned in this chapter but somewhat gleaned over since they aren't as important.
> 
> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 16, 2017

The Balmorans are safe and everyone celebrates. Shouts of glee, tears of happiness. Every Balmoran is hugging, laughing, or crying, and some are doing all three at once. Who could blame them?

The Yellow Paladin is the happiest amongst them, though one could hardly tell. He calmly sits atop it all with his friend to watch the sunrise and for her its the first one she's ever seen. Lance takes it all in with a grin. This is what Voltron is about. Saving lives and more. These people are now free to do what they wish with their lives. Anything at all!

They did this. Together. If it weren’t for them they’d live and die under Zarkon’s thumb. It feels good, really good, to be the hero. It almost helps fill the gaping hole in his heart leaving Earth had given Lance.

Keith is happy too of course. Success always feels good. But something about the mission bothers him. The computer. They needed Shiro to use Galra tech. Or a robotic sentry’s hand.

Keith narrows his eyes on his hand suspiciously, the hand that closed the bay doors. The Galra computer shouldn’t have worked. He’s glad it did but why? Why did it work at all? A fluke maybe? Or--He shakes his head, discounting the obvious explanation.

“Something wrong with your hand?” Lance raises a brow.

“I don’t think so,” Keith shrugs. “Mission’s over. We did good.”

“Uh, yeah,” Lance nods. “So…”

“Listen up team,” Shiro announces over them and turns the floor over to Allura.

“This was a victory but only one in the many battles to come,” Allura announces then adds,“We need to keep taking the fight to Zarkon. Which means we can’t stay any longer. Thank you Balmorans for your help and your hospitality but Voltron must continue its work defending the universe.”

“You heard her,” Shiro waves them to the ship. “Let’s head out.”

The team all get into their respective lions, Lance shooting an inquisitive glance at Keith. He catches it and once in the Red Lion he opens up a channel to the Blue Lion. A private channel. The screen pops up just as they take off for the castle. Lance looks unusually pensive.

“What is it?” Keith asks.

“Uh, when do we...how do we tell the team?” Lance wonders.

“When and however you want,” Keith shrugs. “Do you want me to do it?”

“No, I think...I should do it,” Lance bites at his lip.

“I think you’re making this more stressful than it needs to be,” Keith shakes his head. “But do it however you want. I’m not going to intervene.”

The channel closes and Lance lets out a deep sigh. “Yeah, sure.”

It's not so much the ‘Hey everyone, I’m kinda bisexual and didn’t even know it’ and more of ‘Surprise! I'm making out with another paladin and we didn’t say anything’ that he’s more concerned with. He doesn’t consider even for a second that they’ll care about his orientation. It's the lying. The hiding is what he’s worried about.

A good team doesn’t lie to each other.

First, he thinks about telling them all when they’re together for dinner but he balks. Mouth open, ready to just casually slip it into the conversation but instead he shoves food into his mouth and chews. Keith sighs and gives his foot a tap under the table. Lance shrugs sheepishly and goes back to his food, his foot gently rubbing against Keith’s for comfort.

Next he thinks about saying it when they start to scan Sendak’s mind but it takes a backseat again. The scenario is too tense, too serious to bring up something else to add to the list of crap they’re going through. Changing the subject to his romantic affairs--that’s a little too tactless, even for him.

Then the ship starts getting freaky. Frozen in his own pod until Coran happens upon him. At first, his mind screams ‘HAUNTED’ but Coran assures him the ship is safe. It does little to put him at ease and again makes him stow away his concerns about coming clean for a better time. There are weirder things to worry about.

He’s always believed in ghosts and evil spirits ever since he was a kid. He couldn’t count how many horror stories he heard while huddled around the beach firepit. They were exciting but also mildly terrifying. The only assurance he had then was he was never alone. There was always a cousin, an aunt, or a sister to keep him company.

Did Keith believe in ghosts, he wonders?

With that thought, the lights down the hall start to go out. One. By. One. The fear creeps up on him as the area darkens. His body starts to shiver and he lets out whimpering fear noises. But then he hears a voice down the hall calling for help. Keith? Trapped in the airlock? He doesn't have time for being afraid if someone's in danger so he rushes over only to have it close on him.

“What the?”

Then a mechanical voice announces the purging of the lock.

*****

“I can’t believe this!” Keith pants running away from the gladiator, the dummy that nearly kicked all their asses only a week ago...as a group.

All he wanted to do was give fighting it on his own a chance. Just to see if he could take it without the team's help. Just to see if he'd gotten better. When it got too hard he admitted defeat and tried to terminate the training sequence. But it didn’t stop, going so far as to break through the training room door. Even now it’s charging after him, slicing and dicing.

Calling out to the others does nothing. No one seems to be anywhere near him. What he’d give for a sniping shot to slow down the dummy chasing him. Aimed right in the leg incurring a limp. Or right in the back to make it tumble forward. Anything to slow the damn thing down enough to get a hit in. He rolls away against the airlock door. Where’s Lance when he needs--

“HELP! KEEEEITH!” Lance pounds on the airlock.

“What are you doing in there?” Keith shouts and barely avoids the weapon.

“I need help! Because if you don’t get me out of here right now! I’m gonna get sucked into space!” Lance says, panic in his voice.

The door is already opening! There’s no time! Now the gladiator is preventing him from reaching the controls. If only he could--He swings and kicks but it hardly gets him closer. Luckily Lance is holding tight to a frame inside while screaming his head off. But no one can hold on forever. How much longer before Lance's fingers, slick with nervous sweat, slip from the frame? He needs to open the door--now!

His blade hits the controls, opening the door and sucking the dummy right out. Keith hurriedly reaches in as far as he can taking Lance’s hand. Once pulled through the archway he hits a few buttons, shutting the doors. After a few quick breaths, Keith suddenly pivots his head.

“What were you doing out there?!” he asks exasperated. Was that a slight crack in his voice? His hand still grips tight on Lance’s, not quite ready to release him.

“You first! Who was that guy?!” Lance asks back.

After coming to the conclusion that the castle is trying to kill the both of them, they run off to find the others with terrified shouts.

Of course, the castles isn’t haunted, just infected with a diabolical virus from the evil Galra crystal and it’s only trying to convince Allura to plunge the ship and all its occupants into the fires of a dying sun.

Just a day in the life of team Voltron.

Thankfully it’s all taken care of with the only collateral damage being King Alfor’s AI. The team can only imagine how she feels. Like losing her father all over again. She looked devastated that day, tears streaming down her pain-wracked face. Of course, she did, all she ever had of him is now gone.

The day afterward, she walks about the ship like a ghost, her countenance humorless and showing very little signs of change. Finally, the young paladins gather and discuss doing something about it.

“Should we--” Hunk starts.

“Give her space,” Keith interrupts before they get any bright ideas.

“But--” Pidge argues.

“She said she was fine. If she wanted to talk about it she’d come to us. Any of us,” Keith adds. “Otherwise, you’re being nosey.”

Nothing anyone says or does will make her feel better. And none of them can understand her pain. Not truly. Lance spots Keith solemnly look away from their sad space princess.

He understands all too well. Losing a parent...it's not something one just bounces back from. He may have only been an AI but the pain of Alfor's death is still real to Allura. She’ll need time to adjust.

“Don’t worry Hunk,” Lance chips in, putting an arm around his shoulder. “Look.”

Shiro shows up, addressing the princess with a concern of his. They can’t hear the conversation, it’s too far, but they don’t have to. She looks attentive, says something to him, then looks ready to keep moving but Shiro makes another comment. It’s there for a second but her face softens and she manages a smile. She’s still sad, there’s no denying that, but it’s a step closer to being okay.

“She’ll be alright,” Lance grins. “She knows we’re all here for her.”

“That’s good,” Hunk sighs with relief. "Think I'll make something extra special tonight for dinner."

"I'll help," Pidge joins in. "But after I finish some work in the hanger."

Hunk and Pidge make their way to run extra diagnostics to make sure the ship is completely clear of the Galran virus and pick up the mess from the zero gravity incident. This leaves Lance and Keith alone in the hall, on-lookers to Shiro and Allura’s conversation.

They’re pretty familiar with each other. Are they together? Nah, Shiro still calls her ‘princess’ instead of ‘Allura’ like the rest of them. Regardless, she does look more at ease talking with Shiro than she does with anyone else.

“You’d do that right?” Lance asks.

“Do what?” Keith raises a brow.

“Come to us if something was on your mind?” Lance glances over at him.

Keith isn’t entirely sure. Some things are private. Some things aren’t anyone’s problems but his own. He isn’t about to burden others with every little thing that bothers him. Especially, if it won’t help with their current priorities. He has a long list of things they don’t have time to debate about.

How did he use the computer at the Galra base? Why were there no pictures of his mom growing up? His dad always avoided talking about her if he could. Keith always believed she was dead but...Is it possible that she isn't...and that she's...

_‘Don’t cry Keith...she’s watching over you...from the stars.’_

Alive? And not human? Is it possible? Is it?

“Keith?” Lance repeats and tugs on his coat.

“Sorry,” Keith shakes his head. “I was...thinking.”

“About what?”

“Nothing,” Keith lowers his eyes and turns. He gives Lance a pat on the shoulder. “See you around the ship.”

“Want me to come with you?” Lance calls out, his face worried.

Keith doesn’t answer at first. He doesn’t want to talk. Or makeout. Or do anything. He just wants to walk. And think. Just like he used to do when he was on earth. He’d go for a long walk out in the desert and find a place to lay down and look up into the stars. He'd stare at the far off sparkles, thinking of his family and what it would have been like if they were all together. But he always went alone into the desert. Not wanting or needing anyone to accompany him. Could be nice with someone else. With Lance.

“You can,” Keith says, turning his head, “but I’m not feeling talkative.”

“Great, I can talk for the both of us,” Lance jogs up to him. “So, when the ship was trying to kill us, it reminded me of this ghost story my grams would tell…”

For the next hour Lance talks and talks. Keith wavers in and out of listening. He tries to pay attention and nod accordingly but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he’s not up to it. So when Lance finishes the story he stays quiet for a while. They just walk in silence down the halls.

He can see Lance working hard, trying not to ask if something is bothering Keith. Keith never could have guessed that Lance would have the willpower to keep his mouth shut for more than three minutes. He’s trying not to be nosy. Waiting for Keith to talk to him when he’s ready.

Honestly, It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him.

Everyone he’s ever known has tried to poke, prod, push and pull him to get him talking about things. The generals. The cadets. When he insisted nothing was wrong they would get that much more annoying about it. Sometimes he literally had nothing to say and often made his point by storming off in silence. Or decking someone in the mouth so they’d stop asking. You’d think over the years someone would have picked up on his peculiarities. He glances at Lance who just seems content to walk next to him, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

Lance figured him out. His most annoying quirk unraveled him, that keen perception in which he reacts according to the given situation. His fluidity to adapt. Keith doesn’t want to talk, so they don’t talk. Instead, he just walks with him, quietly, the way he prefers it. He’s never had someone be so accommodatingly sweet before.

Keith gives Lance a little shove with his shoulder.

“Thanks,” Keith says and looks away, suddenly feeling shy. “For...stuff.”

“You blushing? Seriously?” Lance grins. “Did I do that? ”

“No,” Keith denies and shoves him again, this time with his hand.

“Heh, what did I do? Is it my hair? I did try to style it a little today,” he comments looking into the reflective surface of a door, flicking his bangs. “Was it my sultry smile? That makes all the girls melt! Or my swagger? What did I do?”

“Nothing,” Keith shakes his head, feeling embarrassed, as he couldn’t exactly put his finger on what it was. Not without sounding like an idiot.

“Nothing? I did nothing? And you blushed like a crushing schoolgirl?” Lance smiles.

“Shut up,” Keith huffs. “I’m going to the training deck.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna head to the kitchen for a snack,” Lance rubs his growling stomach. “Catch you later?”

“Sure,” Keith shrugs and walks off, trying not to smile.

Lance does a whole hell of a lot more than eating. He checks in on everyone. Hunk and Pidge happily clacking away on keys, noses deep in hologram screens and wire bundles. Allura works on restoring some the ship's programs damaged when King Alfor’s AI was destroyed. Shiro helps Coran clean up the kitchen malfunction. Before they can ask he goes ahead and grabs up a rag to help.

He's going to get roped into it either way, so he might as well volunteer. And he’s glad he did.

Shiro talks about his first years in the academy. Coran and he compare their experiences, finding a lot of them overlap. Being a cadet is shitty no matter where you are in the universe. Lots of menial tasks and yelling superiors. But there’s an event Coran mentions that neither Paladin recognizes but makes for the most interesting conversation.

“Cadets were only invited to the Argalas after they reached a certain rank. They used to be for high-risk missions only, to reduce stress related anxiety. They became more common on all sorts of ships as a morale building exercise around the time I was...a strapping young man,” Coran chuckled and twisted his mustache. “What a time, am I right, Shiro? Have you had your first Argala yet, Lance?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Lance shrugs, completely baffled. Shiro shrugs too, similarly perplexed.

“Argalas. You know, it’s when...er, hmm,” he pulls on his chin, trying to come up with a word. “I wonder if there is an earthling equivalent for the word.”

“Describe it,” Shiro suggests. “The only way we’ll understand the Altean culture better is through what you and Allura can teach us.”

“It’s sort of like multiple reproduction ceremonies without the purpose of reproducing,” he explains. “It’s a series of physical and sensual activities with the intention of building bonds and reducing stress through intimacy. No strings attached. You don’t have something like that on Earth?”

“That sounds like--” Shiro smiles uncomfortably as Lance's eyes light up with sudden understanding.

“An orgy! You guys had orgies?!” Lance shouts. “Like military sanctioned orgies?! That’s awesome!”

“If an ‘orgy’ is a group individuals engaging in consensual intercourse in a festive manner in the hopes of building friendship, intimacy, and sometimes permanent relationships then, yes. That sounds about right,” he nods. “It’s like a party I suppose, but the societal and cultural significance goes much deeper than that. Hold on! I think I have a documentary somewhere…”

“I’m not sure that’s necessary,” Shiro pats Coran’s shoulder, stopping him from bringing up the film on a holo-screen.

“You have a video of that?” Lance waggles his eyes suggestively. “An Altean orgy?”

“Many species participated in such activities, not just Alteans. Why I remember when I was a young mechanic--”

Shiro coughs, interrupting Coran. “Maybe save your war stories for another time Coran.”

“If you insist,” Coran nods. “I’ll handle the reset of the food distributor. You two can go about your business. Thank you for the assistance, paladins.”

Shiro looks very happy to leave the wildly inappropriate conversation. Lance lingers for a moment or two, waiting for the black paladin to make it around the corner. Not so subtly, Lance edges closer and closer to Coran. He gets down to Coran’s level and brings a hand up to whisper discreetly in the Altean's direction.

“So, uh. That documentary, on Argans--”

“Argalas,” Coran corrects, his arms buried in the wires of the machine.

“Right, right, of course. I’d love to learn more about culture and stuff…” Lance tries to sound sincere. “Could you maybe send that documentary to my paladin helmet? For historical study?”

“Of course! Everyone should want to learn more about history,” Coran pulls his arms out of the food distributor and closes the hatch. “Here,” he clicks a few things on a wall. “I included a few others you might find interesting. The Great Yelmor Migration. Crystal: the first discovery of Balmera. And Altea Through the Ages. That last one is twelve hours long! Ah, the memories. Enjoy your history young paladin!”

“Yeah, of course,” Lance nods, having a hard time pretending he gives a shit about anything other than the literal porn Coran just gave him. He backs away slowly to the exit and says with a wave, “I better get started then. See you around Coran.”

It takes every ounce of self-control to not run down the halls to his room where is armor sits. The last thing he needs is Shiro seeing him running at breakneck speeds to his room after just talking to Coran about orgies. The black paladin might make him delete it from his helmet’s files despite the fact that he’s an adult. Legally anyway. He skids to a sudden stop at the training deck.

He should tell Keith about it.

He peeks inside and finds, as usual, Keith hard at work. Where does he find the energy? What dedication and focus. He’s determined to just keep improving his combat skills. And leaving his social skills to stagnate, Lance thinks with a smirk while remembering the awkward exchange in the hall.

Keith is smiling amidst the battle, enjoying the rush he gets from fighting so Lance enters and waits for a break in training. The sequence ends and Keith looks up from the field spotting Lance at the door.

“Hey,” he sighs and wipes his forehead as he approaches.

“Hey, you done?” Lance asks.

“Yeah, I completed three combat sequences,” he declares, pulling at his shirt to get some airflow. “What’d you do? Sleep?”

“Uh no. I cleaned up the kitchen, again,” Lance brags. “Oh and scored some intergalactic alien porn.”

“You what?” Keith blinks with equal parts confusion and disbelief.

Lance spins the story to Keith while he cools down with a bottle of water, wiping the sweat from his neck and face. He pulls his hair up off his neck and ties it off before wiping his nape too. Lance slows down for a moment to stare at the exposed neck but gets back to the story. Once he finishes Keith cracks his knuckles with a sigh.

“Sounds like Coran’s as gullible as you are,” says Keith.

“I try,” Lance smiles proudly. “So what do you say? You, me, a little Netflix and chill?”

“Sure, need to shower first. I reek,” Keith says after giving himself a smell. He leans forward giving Lance a sniff too and grimaces. “So do you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Keith nods.

They leave and moments later arrive outside Lance’s room. He gives Keith the go ahead to shower first if he wants. It’ll give him time to fix up his bed and set up the helmet to project on the wall. Keith pulls his shirt and jacket off in one swoop and tosses them onto Lance’s chair.

“If I hurry, can I watch again?” Lance asks, eyeing his bare chest.

“If you hurry-” Keith starts as he kicks off his pants and enters the bathroom “-you can join me.”

The water barely starts before he hears Lance trip over the chair in his room, trying to remove his pants while running. Keith snorts when seconds later, after tripping again he hears Lance curse, hit something, and say something urgently in Spanish. He’s barely under the water’s warm spray when Lance comes crashing through the door.

“Done already?”

“I’ll set it up after,” Lance says, glancing at the helmet on the floor.

He knocked it off the table when he pulled off his shirt. Then stepped his foot in it, nearly crashing into the wall. He hopped around for a second trying to pull it off his foot but slammed into the wall. There may or may not be a bruise forming on his knee. He feels like a desperate moron but he really doesn't want to miss the opportunity to join Keith in the shower.

“You coming or what?” Keith asks as the water splashes down his face.

Lance hops into the somewhat crowded space. He never realized how much smaller a shower is when two people are in it. The proximity isn’t something he’s going to complain about, however.

Keith steps aside so Lance can catch some of the stream and wet his body. While he does that Keith lathers up a washcloth and starts scrubbing up his body. Chest. Neck. Pits. Just as he’s finishing his sides he feels a hand clasp his.

“I’ll get your back for you,” Lance gulps.

Keith relinquishes the soapy cloth into Lance’s hand and nods. The cloth slides up his back in long swoops and at the shoulders it scrubs in circles. Feels good. Like a little massage. Then the cloth slides down, getting into the crease of his ass. Keith can’t help but notice he’s going slower now. The cloth goes down his thighs and slowly rises up and around his hips.

If Lance presses his boner against his ass right now he just might consider pinning Lance to the wall for some impromptu fun regardless of how little room they have for it.

“Want me to...get your front?” Lance inquires nervously.

Keith just nods, relishing in the feel as Lance snakes his arm around to scrub his stomach. Then his hand slips lower. Lance pushes his hips against Keith’s ass so he can scrub his genitals and grind a little against him. Keith nibbles his lip to exercise more willpower than he’s ever had to so he doesn’t just forgo the shower all together.

“You can rinse now,” Lance mumbles into his ear.

“Okay,” Keith clears his throat. “Your turn.”

Lance hands off the washcloth and while he shampoos his head Keith adds more soap to the cloth. Once he’s ready he scrubs Lance’s chest, trying to keep his eyes on his work and not think about sticking it to him in a steaming hot shower. Tries not to imagine Lance warm from touch and steam, panting, buckling under a penetrating--Keith shakes his head.

Ah, crap. It’s no use. He doesn’t want to clean Lance. Keith massages the bubbly cloth around Lance’s balls and gets an immediate gasp. God, he wants to get him dirty. After Lance is sufficiently flushed from prolonged fondling he stops.

“You can rinse now,” Keith smirks.

“That was...mean,” Lance points. “But I’ll forgive you because it felt really, really good.”

“Let’s finish up and watch this video you conned out of Coran,” Keith shampoos his mullet and rinses.

They towel off and slip into boxers. No point in clothes if they’re just going to go to bed afterwards.

Lance sets up the helmet to project on the wall near the bed. Keith sits on the edge and towels his hair until it's sufficiently dry. Lance makes a couple grumbles as he hits buttons inside the helmet.

“Need help?”

“Yeah, I think--No! Got it! Got it,” he smiles. “Ready?”

He hits the button and jumps into the bed. As it’s playing some opening credits he gestures excitedly for Keith to hurry over. He rolls his eyes but acquiesces by crawling over next to him.

“Sit here,” Lance points between his spread legs. “I want to play with your hair.”

Keith raises a brow with suspicion but plants himself between those impossibly long legs. Feels like a human shaped lawn chair. So he leans back comfortably, his arms resting on Lance’s legs, while fingers run through his hair. He lets out a contented groan as Lance’s fingers scratch at his scalp.

The video opens up with a narrator explaining the cultural significance of the phenomenon that is an Argala. Lance is barely paying attention to the words as it simply pans out on a bustling Travelport. Races upon races walk around, groups of people conversing and laughing, Altean’s diplomatically bowing to ambassadors from other planets. Some races he doesn’t recognize while others catch his eye immediately.

“Look, Galra,” Lance points. “Guess there really was a time before they took over.”

“Yeah,” Keith nods.

The Galra on screen are smiling. Some are shaking hands with shopkeepers, others carrying goods. Tall. Short. Some furry, other’s smooth. A few have tails. None of them are wearing armor unless they’re military. Even then their uniform matches other species too, all part of the same fleet. A conglomeration of different races working together under the same banner.

“They look pretty normal,” Lance comments. “I mean, as normal as a purple skinned feline-esque animal race can look to humans I guess. I mean, they’re not running around with swords and guns and acting like a master race.”

“That’s what Zarkon turned them into,” says Keith. “Maybe with him gone...the Garla will return to being...this.”

A Galra woman becomes the focus of the camera for a moment as an Altean man puts a flower behind her ear. She beams a cat-like grin and kisses him as they walk through the streets, her fluffy tail swaying happily behind her.

“ _These soldiers are preparing for a high-risk mission on a nearby planet with hostile fauna. It’s dangerous and many may not return if they don’t work well together as a unit,_ ” the narrator speaks in monotone, like it’s describing a bird watching tournament. “ _Many are gathering supplies for the upcoming Argalas, to make dishes and beverages to share among their cohorts.”_

Normally, Lance would have fast forwarded through all the boring stuff but Keith...he looks like he’s interested in the information. So he relaxes and continues to detangle Keith’s mop of hair with his fingers.

“Galra are known for their hearty meals high in calorie and nutritional intake. Galra have high levels of testosterone in both men and women, and typically participate in no less than three vargas of physical activity per day to curb their natural reserves of energy. Look at that Koe Steak, delicious.”

“Three vargas?”

“About 3 hours,” Keith announces.

“Three hours, geez,” Lance shakes his head. “I’m tired just thinking about it. Steak looks good though.”

“ _Altean wine is always brought to the Argalas. A big hit, aside from its obvious effects such as reducing stress and lowering inhibitions, some Altean wines are also aphrodisiacs. Woah there Mirena, save some for the Argala._ ”

“Too bad, bet that wine doesn’t even exist anymore,” Lance sighs sadly. “Shame.”

“Yeah,” Keith nods.

The camera follows a couple cadets prepping a room for the party. Setting up sofas by pressing buttons on walls. Others placing food on the tables. There’s a woman setting up a few small sitting areas with sexual accoutrements. Feather toys, silken ropes, and decanters of various oils. Now Lance is really paying attention.

At first, it seems like a fancy dinner party. Most of the cadets and officers show up in their uniforms, some show up in fancy dress. Most of the room is eating from the delicious spread of cultural foods. Some of the participants are even feeding each other.

“ _Most attendees will choose a series of partners while others will choose just one. This Altean will spend the evening with five others before the night is over, some of them at the same time, while this Galra officer will only stay with one. Many a courtship starts at Argalas like this one but they aren’t required to do so._ ”

It focuses on an Altean couple making out on one of the many sofas. Two beautiful Altean women in military dress.

_“It seems someone is eager to get started.”_

“Nice,” Lance grins.

“ _This Galra cadet is a little shy but engages in conversation with two attractive prospects. Both are interested in her and guide her to a private place for them to get to know each other better. Galra like her will experiment with many different people in the hopes of finding a life partner. Good luck Kolna.”_

Things start heating up on the wall. Alteans, Galra, and some races he doesn’t know begin stripping their clothes. Lance stops scratching Keith’s head for a moment to focus on the numerous tits and dicks being exposed.

“Woah,” Lance blinks.

Galra are fucking ripped. The men, the women, all of them. It’s all that physical activity, he guesses. The Alteans have lean, lithe bodies. Not nearly as hulking. The camera focuses on a trio of Altean ladies for a moment. All three of them are nude and slathering oils on their body, massaging each other. Lance can’t help but stare at the supple breasts.

“ _Some activities are tame, involving nothing more than massages or fervent kissing. Alteans typically prefer sensual activities involving touch and smell. Aromatic oils are the favorite of these ladies. That being said, the Galra attendees prefer more primal activities.”_

Next on the screen is a Galra female, still wearing her uniform top, and brandishing a strap on. She’s pounding away on another, smaller male of a race undetermined who is stripped of all his clothes. The whole time she digs her claws into his ass for grip. She then buries her face in his neck and biting hard enough to draw blood. He looks absolutely ecstatic right before he comes.

Lance swallows as his crotch twitches. Can Keith feel that, the wonders?

“ _After the Argala none of the crew is expected to continue relations with any of the participants if they don't wish to, especially if they’ve already found someone. Like this couple here--_ ”

It flashes back to before the party focusing on mixed duo, an Altean and Galra. Both male.

The Galra is dressed in his military uniform and helping himself to a plate of food next to his mate, a lanky Altean with red hair pulled back into a braid that nearly touches the floor. He notices the camera and alerts the other to it. The Galra smiles and gives the Altean a kiss on the cheek. He rolls his eyes but leans onto his Galra counterpart with a smile.

“ _Ta-rek and Dehren, while already promised to each other, still attend the Argalas. They enjoy the atmosphere of the event, a reminder of their first meeting nearly ten years ago. While sometimes they invite a partner between them, they often spend most of the evening simply with each other._ ”

“That’s really sweet,” Lance awws. “Man, why can’t the Galra be like this?”

“Maybe some of them are,” Keith shrugs. “We’ve only met Zarkon’s fleet Galra. Who’s to say what the civilians are like. They could be just like...us.”

Keith looks away from the screen, considering the idea. The Galra, just like them? Having the same concerns and worries. Wondering what to cook for dinner. Deciding what to study in school. Traveling the universe. Falling in love. Having kids.

It gets him thinking a little too much about his origins again.

 _“Galra are popular with other races at Argalas for more reasons than their admirable stamina. The chemical composition of Galra bodily fluids has an aphrodisiac effect to varying degrees depending on the species. However, for some races, the effects can be more deadly. Sorry Yoruk, you can't engage with that Calsimian unless you want to put her into anaphylactic shock._ ”

Both Keith and Lance's eyes go wide at the remark.

“Christ,” Lance blinks. “Think humans would be poisoned? Cause I can think of about four people right off the bat on Earth who would definitely fuck a hot Galra and not care about dying. And that's just in the Cadet wing.”

“Dunno,” Keith shrugs.

He doesn't think so. If what he suspects is true then he seriously doubts poison in regards to humans. In fact he could definitely make a case for the opposite with his experiences alone.

It would explain why every guy he's ever kissed was so heady afterwards, Lance included. And the ones who sucked him off? The ones he fucked? They always looked high, as if coming down from something. He always attributed it to just being good in the sack but now...with that computer in the base...

Could he really be...Galra? Was is really outside the realm of possibility?

Lance becomes particularly entranced with the newest scene. It’s the bonded pair, the Galra and Altean, in the throes of very graphic intercourse.

The Altean is blindfolded and hogtied with silken ropes. The Galra slathers the restrained body with flavored oils and trails bites marks after bite marks all over the flesh. They stand out stark on the slick body. The oils satisfy the Alteans need for extended touch and the Galra partner’s need to dominate is sated with the use of ropes. What a balanced duo.

The mood gets hotter when the Galra with his bulging cock starts fucking the Altean senseless. The moans...Lance swallows and flushes a little at the sound. It must feel really good, he concludes. They wouldn’t moan like that if it didn’t…

Keith turns his head up and observes the change in Lance’s face. He can feel Lance getting hard against his back. Should he move? Watching Lance taking his matters into his own hands might be fun for a change of pace. Keith shifts a little under the guise of getting comfortable, rubbing against his crotch. Lance sucks in a little air at the contact but says nothing.

The Galra pushes deep and hard, with slow measured thrusts. The Altean pants and squirms in pleasure as he’s pushed to his knees, his arms tied behind him. He continues to take the entire length of his partner’s cock, begging for more speed but the Galra denies him and instead chooses to slow the thrusts to an agonizing crawl.

“That’s just...mean,” Lance swallows. His fingers twist and twirl in Keith’s hair as he watches with intense interest.

The Altean is close, his breath hitching, his hips moving in tandem with his partner. Lance barely rolls his hips and Keith feels that hardness rutting against him.

“Want me to move? So you can--”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Lance interrupts nodding.

Keith moves over to sit next to him and watches as Lance reaches into his pants. He pulls himself out, hard and swollen, and begins stroking. Keith debates helping him out but decides against it. He’s not really in the mood. Plus, Lance masturbating to some pretty hardcore interracial alien bondage porn is doing it for him.

So he sits back and enjoys the show that is Lance.

The Galra on screen pics up his spindly partner and takes a seat on the edge of a sofa. He spreads the man's legs, lifts him, and practically skewers his ass, thrusting from his comfortable sitting position. He bites, licks, and thrusts with an enthusiastic grin, relishing in the blissful delight of his bound partner.

“Wonder how good...that feels,” Lance pants as he thumbs over the stickiness leaking out.

Keith raises a brow with interest and leans over, his mouth to Lance’s ear.

“Being tied up? Blindfolded? Fucking someone? Being fucked?” Keith asks, his voice a little husky. Does dirty talk get Lance going at all? It looks like it does.

“A little of...all of it...” Lance sighs and speeds up with a moan. “It looks...fun.”

“It is,” Keith assures him.

Lance can’t stop watching as the Altean begs, shakingly pleas for the Galra to finish him. He finally acquiesces and unties the needy and quivering Altean. The blindfold stays where it is. He’s laid out, splayed on the couch and the Galra takes that leaking cock into his mouth. The camera zooms in as the Galra sucks and finger fucks him into climax. Something about those fingers sliding in and out with such purpose and precision…coaxing out keening moans...

He’d be willing to try it.

“Keith, would you...do you know how…” he starts but can’t find the words.

“Can’t. We don’t have lube here,” Keith answers the bumbled question.

“Damn,” Lance groans.

The Altean is sent over the edge with an ecstatic wail. He is then cleaned up before proceeding to finish his partner. Takes to his knees and sucks so his Galra counterpart can come in his mouth.

He can just imagine himself in his place, the orgasm shaking him down to his core. Lance comes with a hissing sigh as he watches the Altean swallow the semen greedily. Keith keenly watches as it spurts onto his stomach and dribbles down his length. He licks his lips, thinking about how good Lance tastes. He told himself earlier to keep his hands to himself but...it’s awfully tempting.

“Where’s that towel you had?” Lance leans to look off the bed.

The words are hardly out of his mouth before Keith crawls over and slides his tongue across flesh. Slowly, until it reaches the first sticky drop. Lance stares, wide-eyed as Keith laps it up, every drop. Keith even takes Lance’s soft length in his mouth and suckles it until the salty flavor is gone. Clean.

“You really...like doing that,” Lance states, a small smile forming on his face.

“Uh, yeah,” Keith looks up, a little pink shame on his cheeks.

The way his eyes gaze softly on Keith...damn, he’s cute. When Lance reaches out Keith crawls closer over him until their mouths meet. They kiss and Lance tastes the salt on Keith’s tongue.

So that’s what he tastes like, what Keith enjoys swallowing down. It’s invigorating to know the flavor. He should try it, in fact, he suddenly feels compelled to try it now. The room feels warmer and Lance’s fingers playfully pluck at Keith’s boxers.

“I, uh…” Lance breathes hot on Keith’s neck. “Pull down...these. I want to...suck you again.”

“No,” Keith shakes his head. “Not in the mood for it.”

“Is there something else you want?” Lance asks threading his fingers into Keith’s hair and massaging his scalp while kissing at his neck. “Before we sleep?”

Keith shakes his head because honestly, he wants nothing more than to just lay there and do absolutely nothing. To just plop down, get under the covers and get spooned by Lance. To feel the clinging warmth of being held. Kisses pressed into his sensitive neck to send pleasant shivers down his spine.

To not think about anything at all is all he wants.

Lance is disappointed but understands. He gets out of bed and turns off the helmet projector. He makes a quick trip to the bathroom before returning to the bed. Keith’s already under the covers and turned away from him. Shoulders tight. Breathing low. Silent.

He’s noticed Keith gets like that when he’s pensive and doesn’t want to talk. To anyone, including the guy he blows and sleeps with. Lance is learning to not take it personally. To give him his space. It’s how Keith operates.

“Good night, Keith.”

“Night, Lance,” he sighs.

Lance slides in and reaches out to grab the edge of Keith’s boxers. He’s grown used to holding something of Keith before falling asleep. Tonight is no exception. Within moments Lance has drifted away, fingers clenched around the fabric.

Keith remains awake and turns to face his bed mate, just barely slipping out of his grasp. Instinctively Lance reaches, trying to find purchase on Keith again. Keith gives him his hand and Lance relaxes back into sleep. Keith shuffles and scoots closer, placing his other hand on Lance’s head to finger his hair. Lance seems to almost purr at the touch with a smile.

“Mmmm,” Lance murmurs.

“Lance,” Keith says quietly.

Lance pulls his hand to his lips and kisses the knuckles gently before clutching Keith’s hand to his chest. The red paladin turns red at the sweet innocence of it. Lately, all these simple cute interactions with Lance have been cracking his well-built stoicism. It’s not like Lance was even trying to do those things. Regardless, these gestures of genuine kindness weaken his resolve.

“Romantic crap,” Keith mumbles, trying to will away the flush on his face.

Before he knows it he’ll be blushing at Lance’s stupid pickup lines. His ridiculous puns. Those dumb jokes he delivers with a beaming grin. Falling to pieces over his smile, like the girls at the Academy. He doesn’t want to be like those girls, the ones who fawn over their favorite idols.

“No, no, no, no,” he repeats, hoping the mantra will spare him from that fate.

Lance shifts in closer and pulls Keith into his chest. He sighs and mumbles, nothing coherent, as he entwines his limbs around Keith’s body. He’s not unlike an octopus crushing his prey but he stops just shy of squeezing Keith’s organs out through his ears. Lance only hums happily. Keith can hardly reprimand him. It’s not like he’s doing this on purpose and it doesn’t hurt. Instead, he just pats his head and rubs his back with a resigned sigh hoping it’ll loosen his hold enough to sleep comfortably.

“I got you...Keith,” Lance sighs with a smile.

“Yeah,” Keith rolls his eyes, thinking he must be dreaming of something illicit.

“Don’t...worry,” Lance nuzzles into his neck, kissing up to his ears. “I’m here…f...you. I’m not...goi...anywher...”

Keith’s eyes soften as he frowns solemnly. Even in his dreams, Lance reassures him. No one really has before, no one felt the need.The only one who did, his father, is dead.

Keith feels a pang of...something...in his chest. He can’t decide whether he feels terrible or great. Guilty, like he has something he shouldn't. Happy, because he's never had someone care so much. He can't decide which is stronger but both emotions are in surplus at the moment risking an overflow. He doesn’t want to cry but he feels a shudder through his body. He squeezes Lance back, grits his teeth and breathes through his nose to keep from breaking down.

“Keith?” Lance rouses a little. “You okay?”

“I’m...fine,” he manages to get past his teeth.

“Are you cr-” Lance blinks sitting up, feeling more alert hearing the distress in his voice

“No, I’m just…” Keith shudders and squeezes Lance tighter.

It’s his hope that if he holds on with a strong enough grip, Lance won’t be able to pry him off to look at him. If he looks into worried eyes, Lance’s worried eyes, he won’t be able to keep the dam from breaking. He can keep from crying if he just stays...like...this.

“Keith,” Lance frowns, worry in his tone.

He gently threads fingers through Keith’s hair and combs in swoops.

How naive he was to think he could resist the urge to bawl just by avoiding Lance’s eyes when the feel of slender fingers, calmly petting him, another gesture of comfort he’d been denied for so long, only serves to make it worse. To feel cared about. To be comforted. He’s never felt so grateful for touch, making it that much harder to control his emotions. He doesn’t deserve this, does he?

“It’s okay,” Lance tells him, patting his back. “I got you.”

That assurance snaps him in two. He lets out a breath along with a gasping sob. While the sobs wrack him, his arms hold tight to Lance. There are no words to explain why he’s upset and Lance doesn’t expect them. Sometimes people just need to cry and he suspects that Keith has needed to cry for a very long time. Wound as tight as he is, it isn’t surprising to see Keith like this.

Lance is soaked by the time Keith slows down to whimpers and whines. He continues to try and hold back his distressed noises behind clenched teeth but to no avail. At least now he’s relaxed his hold on Lance, enough that he can see Keith’s wet and puffy face. Not for long though. Keith notices and moves behind his arm to cover his eyes out of shame, still sniffing and swallowing the lump in his throat. Never has he ever felt so vulnerable, so frail.

“It’s okay,” Lance repeats.

“I’m...sorry,” Keith hiccups from behind his hand. “Dammit.”

Lance grasps the hand shielding Keith’s face and at first, he resists the attempt to move it. Eventually, he pulls it away but Keith squeezes his eyes shut, little tears still managing to find a way through. Lance looks sympathetically down on him. He’s never seen Keith cry. The only emotions he’s ever expressed in abundance are annoyance, indifference, and some pride. It’s that same pride that brings the blush of shame up his face after crying so hard.

“There’s nothing wrong with crying, Keith,” Lance lets him know. “I should know, I cry all the time.”

Logically, he knows that’s true but...to break down like that and in front of Lance…

“Crying doesn’t make you weak,” Lance adds.

“It feels like it does,” Keith swallows. He rubs his forehead and runs his fingers through his hair with frustration. “Sorry,” he growls, madder at himself than anything else.

“Wanna talk about it?” Lance asks, brushing Keith’s bangs aside. Keith shakes his head, not wishing to inconvenience him further. “Do you feel better at least?”

“Yeah,” Keith nods. “I didn’t mean to wake you. Sorry-”

“If you say you’re sorry again, I’m gonna make you sorry,” Lance sasses. “You don’t have to apologize. Regardless of some of your more irritating quirks, I like you Keith. I’m not going to be mad because something upset you. I’m not a hypocrite.”

Lance gives him one of those heart-melting smiles and Keith tries to give one back but it’s weak as if part of him still feels ashamed. Lance leans and lowers his mouth to Keith’s lips. A few long, soft kisses. It’s reassuring and detangles the knot in his throat enough that he can breathe again.

“So you really don’t want to tell me why you were crying? Cause if you don’t say something, it’s just going to happen again,” Lance warns as he uses the blanket to dry the corners of Keith’s eyes.

“It’s a lot of things,” Keith admits, swatting away the blanket. “And I’m tired now. Maybe another time, Lance. For now...thanks. For just being here.”

“Sure,” Lance grins. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

Keith smirks remembering Lance’s unconscious proclamation from earlier. They both get comfortable again, lying as they usually would. Just when Keith thinks Lance is asleep, the red paladin shifts completely to face the other way. He spoons in close to Lance, throwing an arm over him and pulling him close. Sure Lance said he wasn’t going anywhere, but he doesn’t want to risk waking up in an empty bed in the middle of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 16, 2017

It’s almost time again for another mission. Seems so soon after their last one. Not even enough time to really recuperate. Lance wishes they had more time to just rest up, for Keith in particular. After that night the red paladin spent sobbing in his arms, he has to wonder if more rest isn’t exactly what he needs.

After that night he’s been a little distant. Odd considering how when Lance woke up Keith was clinging tight to his body, unwilling to relinquish his hold. It hardly bothered Lance but after Keith opened his eyes a new wave a shame overtook him. Sudden embarrassment at remembering the night before and how he never explained himself. He released his hold and took off to take a shower in his own room and has been avoiding him after that.

It’s been three days since they’ve talked.

He doesn’t want to tell Lance why he broke down. He isn’t ready to be that open, so until then he actively tries to avoid any situation in which they’re alone together. To put it off until he can find the right words. Which may be a while as he’s not known for speaking unless certain of what he wants to say.

He hasn’t been to Lance’s room in days either. Is he afraid of repeating that night again? Or perhaps the morning after? It’s all too obvious to Lance that he’s trying to avoid conversation about it. And now Keith’s spending even more time in the training hall, his swings charged with more frustration than usual.

Outside the training room door, the other young paladins peek in on him.

“He’s in there again?” Pidge raises a brow and checks the time. “That’s the second time today.”

“Third,” Lance corrects.

“Maybe he really wants to be prepared, like overly prepared. Should we be preparing?” Hunk looks back and forth at the faces of Lance and Pidge, looking for an answer. “I mean, I don’t use a sword but...should we be running more drills? I feel like we should?”

“Nah, we’re fine,” Lance smiles, giving him a thumbs up. “Keith’s just showing off.”

But Lance knows he’s not.

There’s something about the lack of amusement in Keith’s face as he practices. Normally, he’s focused but with a small smirk on his face, especially when things are going his way. Right now he’s killing it in there, dominating the field, but there’s not even a spark of pride in his eyes. Instead, turmoil resides in his gaze and something else. Lance can almost call it worry.

A myriad of things bounce around in Keith’s mind after that night. His shameful display in front of Lance. His crying. His heritage. His horniness. God, he usually has no trouble taking care of that last one but lately, he can’t bring himself to do it alone. He could easily do something with Lance to alleviate his...burden, but that would require talking about what’s on his mind. And as of yet, he hasn’t really formulated the conversation in his mind. And the longer he goes without talking to him the more he feels a very good explanation is needed. For now, he’s avoiding the talk and Lance to give himself for time to come up with something.

Hopefully, he can come up with something soon.

*****

The last two nights were sleepless for Lance. He misses the warmth and the smell. It’s cold and lonely in his room when Keith isn’t there to turn to. And when he goes to Keith’s room it’s just as empty. Clean and organized, almost sterile; like he hasn’t been there in days. And no matter where he looks he can’t seem to find him anywhere. He has a sneaking suspicion that he’s been sleeping in his Lion lately.

“Hope it wasn’t something I did,” Lance wonders.

Lance tries to keep himself from worrying about it by helping the others with anything they need.

Shiro goes through some tactics lectures with him. Coran tells him about Yelmors. He eats the leftovers in the cold storage and gives himself brain freeze. Allura offers to put him in a healing pod for this ‘frozen brain syndrome’ but he promises it’s not an illness she need concern herself over. Plus, he doesn’t want to clean the pod again afterward, all for a simple headache. He knows Coran will make him do it too.

Instead, a quick lay down should be enough to help. He walks into the common room to find Keith on the sofa. He’s laid out with a book, an actual paper and ink book, resting over his eyes. An arm hangs from the edge, touching the ground while the other rests on his stomach. He spent so much time actively looking for him only to stumble upon him when he wasn’t trying to find him. The irony.

Lance approaches quietly, sure that he’s asleep, and peers close at the binding on the book. Old. It’s cracked and faded. It looks practically ancient. He can’t even read a title on the spine or the front. Sun damaged, water damaged, there might even be a tiny blood stain on the corner.

“What’s up?” Keith asks and Lance nearly jumps out of his skin. He clutches at his heart and says something Keith doesn’t understand but sounds vaguely like a string of curses. “You alright?”

“No, I’m not. Move over, you’re taking up the whole couch. I’ve got a headache,” Lance sighs.

There’s a whole nother couch but Keith swings his legs out of the way and sits up, opening a brand new level of awkward silence as Lance takes a seat.

He wasn’t counting on being alone with Lance for a while yet. It was his hope reading would take his mind off it. That he’d come up with something soon. As of yet, he has nothing. He could leave but then it’ll just make things even stranger. Then again maybe Lance won’t even ask about--

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Lance sighs and turns a little to look at him.

Keith looks down to the ground, his mouth becoming a thin line.

“You’re not mad at me for something are you?” Lance asks, a brow raised.

Keith turns, brows furrowed. “No,” he answers, shaking his head.

“Okay, good,” Lance nods, taking a deep breath with a relieved smile. “That’s all I wanted to ask.”

“Really?” Keith blinks.

“Yep,” Lance says. “Also, stop being such a dramatic dick. Come back to bed. You look like shit and you know it’s cause you miss me.”

Keith breaks out a little smile. Of course. Not everything has to be so serious all the time. Didn’t he tell Lance that? Just spitting his own advice back at him. He doesn’t need to worry about every little thing. Doesn’t need to talk about it either. Not like there’s much he can do anyway about what’s already been done. He can find out more about his origins once the opportunity presents itself. As for his longings, now he won’t feel bad about addressing them...maybe sometime soon.

“Sure,” Keith rolls his eyes and opens his book.

“Where’d you get that?” Lance asks.

“It’s mine. I had it on me when we left Earth,” Keith says as he turns the page. Lance leans over to read the title at the top of the page now that he can see the inside.

“White Fang. Looks ancient,” Lance comments and lays down on the sofa, resting the back of his head against Keith’s thigh. “What’s it about?”

He could give Lance a long wordy summary but it’ll betray how many times he’s read the damn thing.

“It’s better if you read it,” Keith says.

“Ugh, repeat: I have a headache,” Lance whines as he shifts into a comfortable lounging position. “Read it out loud?”

Keith shrugs and flips back to the beginning.

It’s one of his favorites. He used to read it when he thought about his mom. His father said it was her favorite book though he has to wonder if that’s true.

He’s read it a couple dozen times at least, so he doesn’t mind starting over for Lance. One hand holds the book open in his lap and the other runs fingers through Lance’s hair. Lance sighs contentedly as Keith massages his head and reads.

“Dark Spruce Forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of the frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light,” Keith narrates.

Half an hour passes as Keith reads and when he looks down to check on Lance he’s not the least bit surprised to find he’s fallen asleep. Keith shakes his head with a smirk and keeps reading, silently now but he continues to play with Lance’s hair, only removing his fingers occasionally to turn a page.

The door to the common room opens and Keith hardly takes notice. It’s just Hunk.

“Hey Keith, what’s up?”

“Reading,” Keith states the obvious.

“Cool. Uh, why are you running your fingers through Lance’s hair?” Hunk asks with confusion.

Keith doesn’t even look down from his book but his back goes rigid. That’s right. No one knows. Lance still hasn’t told anyone. They aren’t supposed to find out this way but Keith isn’t about to pretend like it isn’t happening and he’s not about to stop just because they were caught.

“He had a headache,” Keith says bluntly and turns the page. The hand habitually returns Lance’s head and scratches there.

“Oh, ok,” Hunk nods, accepting the response but still not entirely certain what dimension he’s stepped into.

“Did you need something?” he asks as his eyes scan the page.

“Uh, oh! Yeah! I was gonna ask Lance for some help in the kitchen but…”

Keith pinches Lance’s cheek. “Wake up, moron.”

Lance wakes with a shout, bolting upright holding his cheek. “Ow! You jerk!! What the hell-”

“Kitchen duty,” Keith points at Hunk, never looking up from his book. Lance flushes with embarrassment upon seeing Hunk standing there, waving awkwardly.

“Right, okay. I’ll be there in a second Hunk,” he nods and glares at Keith. Hunk leaves and Lance grumbles, “You could have been gentler.”

“You sleep like a rock. No other way to wake you.”

Lance rubs his cheek with a whine. “Even if that’s true…”

“What a baby.”

Keith sighs and beckons him over. Lance comes closer, eyes narrowed and wary of pinching fingers. He plants a kiss on the sore cheek in the spot he pinched. Lance’s face softens and his mouth forms a slow smile.

“Better?” Keith asks as he turns back to his book.

“You should probably do another...just for good measure,” Lance grins. “You know, reparations for damages and what not.”

“Uh huh,” Keith raises his brow. “You know, you can just say you want me to kiss you.”

“Man, you take all the fun out of flirting,” Lance pouts with a whine. “It’s one of my favorite things. That and excellently timed puns.”

“I like straightforwardness. Like this,” Keith says, putting his book back inside his jacket and turning to Lance. He cups the back of Lance’s neck and eyes his lips. Keith’s thumb rubs gently on his pulse, bringing a shiver down his spine. Lance swallows, his eyes lidding at the mouth approaching his. Keith whispers a hair’s breadth from Lance’s mouth. “Let’s make out.”

“Okay,” Lance nods readily, leaning into the lips.

They kiss warm needy kisses that leave Lance panting for breath. Something about kissing Keith makes him heady and hungry. Makes him not think before acting. Hunk shouldn’t be back for a while. Pidge is busy with the computer garbage. Shiro, Coran, and Allura are still busy doing what boring ‘mature’ people do. Just a few quick kisses and a little groping to hold him over until later. After all, he hasn’t gotten to touch Keith in days .

Lance presses his face forward, slipping his tongue in to massage Keith’s. He then threads his fingers through that mop of hair as he climbs over Keith’s lap to take a seat there. Keith sits straight up and scoots forward a little to grip the seat of Lance’s jeans. His fingers squeeze on his ass as their tongues slide into each other’s mouths. Lance slips his hands into Keith’s jacket to hold his shoulders, his palms massaging. He wants to pull it off, along with his shirt. Instead, he grinds just a little against Keith’s pelvis.

“Lance,” Keith bites at his lips and sighs at the pulling of his hair. “We should--”

He doesn’t get a chance to finish the sentence. The suggestion that they continue this later in a more private place. It might have come in handy if he’d opened his mouth sixty seconds sooner because the common room door opens and Pidge enters.

Lance freezes, his seat firmly on Keith’s lap and fingers knotted in dark locks. Keith gives off the air of being unconcerned, but his heart thumps when he remembers his hands are dipped into the back pockets of Lance’s jeans with a strong purchase on asscheeks. Pidge stops a few steps in, a laptop under her arm, eyes blinking with disbelief and then sudden understanding. The air thick with the very obvious scenario displayed for all to see.

Maybe he can salvage this.

“I know what this looks like--” Lance starts.

“Can’t you guys do that in your room? I mean, this is a community couch! People have to sit on that! I mean, come on! Be a little more considerate?” she exclaims, gesturing to the couch the whole time.

“Uh…” Lance mumbles, uncertain. He looks to Keith for answers to his unasked questions.

“Oh, right,” Keith recalls, his memory suddenly refreshed. “She tried to set us up back on Arus. So I guess she knows, or has for a while...”

“What?!”

“Hunk too,” Pidge adds. “You can’t just snuggle on the couch, lovingly running your fingers through a person's hair and not attract attention. You don’t just see that and not _know_ .”

“She’s right,” Keith shrugs but objects to the word ‘lovingly’.

“Is there anyone that doesn’t know?!” Lance asks exasperated.

The doors open again and in walk the final members of the team led by Allura. Coran and Shiro follow in step behind her.

“Paladins, we should--oh! Oh my g-What’s happening here?!” Allura exclaims. Shiro stares wide-eyed and Coran says nothing, blinking with curiosity.

“Not anymore,” Pidge grimace smiles and mouths a ‘yikes’.

“Great,” Lance chokes out, his face tomato red.

He could literally die of embarrassment. Fingers tangled in Keith’s hair. Ass firmly grasped in Keith’s fingers. With no gracious way of hopping off without making it even more awkward.Thankfully, Keith senses this is a good time for him to take over since Lance doesn’t seem ready with any words. For once.

“It’s not a big deal,” Keith sighs and turns his head to address Allura. “We were making out. Actually, we’ve been doing this for over a month now.”

It’s silent, the air palpable. Pidge looks nervously between the princess and the duo on the couch, a mix of curiosity and discomfort on her face. She wants to leave but wants to know what will be said. Shiro keeps darting his eyes around with an awkward smile, waiting for someone else to break the silence and hoping it won’t have to be him.

On earth this was commonplace, teens making out in all manner of inappropriate places. What did Alteans think of stuff like this?

“Oh is that all?” Allura shakes her head with a smile. “I thought you were fighting again. It looked as though you were about to choke Keith. As long as you aren’t killing each other-”

“You’re not...mad?” Lance asks. “We hid this from you guys.”

“Not that well,” Pidge interjects, adjusting her glasses with an apologetic grimace. She then mouths ‘sorry but it’s true’.

“What’s more important is that you’re comfortable telling us,” says Shiro. “Being honest with the team can only be a good thing. As long as it doesn’t interfere with Voltron, what you do in your off time is your business. This applies to everyone.”

What a relief. Keith can literally feel Lance relaxing with this new information. Tension melting away. It's good to see the stress leaving his face, the furrow in his worried brow smoothing out. Keith taps Lances hip and huffs, hinting that he should probably stand. He clambers to his feet and scratches the back of his head nervously.

“Cool. Uh, we’re sorry we lied,” he coughs. Keith doesn’t look the least bit apologetic so Lance gives his foot a not-so-gentle kick and nods his head in the others’ direction.

“Yeah, sorry,” says Keith unconvincingly with a frown.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro chuckles. “But maybe designate a less public place for your more physical activities?”

“I-uh, right!” Lance turns red again just thinking of how far they might have gone if they had been caught any later.

“You know when I was a young mechanic, this sort of thing happened all the time. It was commonly-”

“Not now Coran,” Shiro places a hand on his shoulder. “I think they’d rather we moved on from this.”

Lance and Keith both nod in agreement with him.

“Anyways,” Allura smiles. “Pidge assures me the data is nearly finished compiling. Meaning we’ll soon be able to act on any information she found. Which brings me to my reason for coming here.”

“It’s time to get ready,” Shiro explains. “So let’s get moving paladins. We probably won’t get an opportunity to eat or sleep for a while if the data’s as useful as we hope it is. We have-”

“About two vargas,” Pidge pipes up.

“We’ll meet up on the navigation deck then. So use your time wisely,” Shiro nods.

With that Allura, Coran, and Shiro take off from the common room. Pidge takes a seat on a different couch and opens her laptop. She clacks away on the keys, so deep into the digital world that she doesn’t seem to notice Keith and Lance are still there.

“So everyone knows now?” Lance sighs.

“Guess so,” says Keith.

“And they don’t _care_ ?” Lance stares at the door and raises his arms in confusion. All that stress really was for nothing.

“I wouldn’t say Pidge was thrilled to see us sucking face and enthusiastically dry humping on the couch,” Keith points out. Lance grins, waggling his brows and making suggestive humming noises.

“I wasn’t. And also, please take your bedroom talk elsewhere,” Pidge comments. “While it's great you two are _finally_ getting along, I need a quiet NON SEXED UP public space to finish the decryption of this data in. Sooooo-”

“Got it, got it. We’ll get lost,” Keith sighs and gets to his feet. “Need to get changed anyway.”

The speakers go off in the whole ship with Hunk’s voice.

“You coming to help clean up these dishes Lance? Or are you going to spend the rest of your down time making out with your **_boyfriend_** ~ ?”

“My boyfr--He’s not--we’re not--shut up!” Lance yells, his body rigid. “I’ll be there in a minute!”

Keith holds in a chuckle and gives his shoulder a pat, telling him to relax. Lance takes a deep breath, nods his thanks, and stomps his way to the kitchen. Keith stands there watching him go, eyeing the ass he was just pawing all over. A shame they had to stop.

“So how is it?” Pidge asks after Lance exits. “Caring as bad as you thought it would be?”

“It’s terrible,” Keith huffs but a smirk arises.

“Liar,” Pidge grins.

“See you in two vargas, Pidge,” Keith waves and leaves for his room.

*****

Lance shivers a little while in the kitchen with Hunk. It’s always so cold in there. He should have stopped by his room to grab his jacket but it’s a little late now. He scrubs at the dishes and hands them off to Hunk to dry.

“All this high-tech alien stuff and they don’t have a dishwashing machine...You can spit out food goo from a firehose and create the most powerful transformer robot in the UNIVERSE but a machine to wash dishes? Noooo,” Lance groans.

“I know, like, if Earth had half of this stuff, we’d be well on our way to exploring more than just Kerberos. Er, I mean, the other people on Earth, not us specifically. Cause we’re already exploring way more than just our solar system. You know ‘cause, Voltron,” Hunk rambles on and on.

“Yeah, I getcha Hunk,” Lance assures him. “I don’t mind dishes that much but…”

“You’d rather be doing someone else,” Hunk nods in understanding.

“Yeah,” Lance nods but then notices the wording and Hunk’s knowing smile. “No! Hey! That’s not--”

“No, no, no. I get it,” Hunk snorts and chuckles. “Washing dishes with me hardly compares to getting a nice head massage from Keith.”

Lance cheeks flush as he gets started on the other half of the dishes. If he were washing them with Keith--oh hell, who is he kidding? They’d never get past lathering soap for the water. That little bump and grind on the couch got his engine running and he wants nothing more than to go for a drive.

“I should have noticed sooner,” Hunk grins. “All that arguing...you were that kid that pulled on pigtails, weren’t you?”

“No,” Lance denies. “I gave flowers to girls and told them they were the only one for me. I had three in different classes in middle school until they all found out. They beat me with the classroom cleaning supplies.”

  
And that’s why he never attempted anything even close to cheating again.

Hunk laughs heartily and shakes his head, not surprised at all with this story. Lance looks at the clock on the wall and sighs. Half a varga down, one and a half to go. And then he’ll have to wait till who knows when before they can be alone together.

“I can get the rest of these Lance,” Hunk offers.

“No...I should--”

Pidge enters the kitchen, laptop open and one hand typing. She rummages through the storage, grabs something without looking, and shoves the food into her mouth. Her foot kicks the door closed as she loudly chews. She puts the laptop on the counter and leans on it, listening to them talk while she eats her space fruit.

“Just go,” Hunk laughs and shoves him with his hip. “Your boyfriend is probably looking for you.”

“We’re not really--It's more like--I’m not his boyfriend. It’s very...casual,” he says, reluctantly.

“Are you kidding? You’re not his boyfriend? ” she asks with a laugh, throwing her hand up in disbelief. “Someone should probably let Keith know.”

“I know, right?” Hunk snorts.

“What do you mean?” Lance asks, eyes squinting in confusion.

“Seriously? Are you blind?” she gestures.

“You’ve known Keith since you started at the academy, have you ever seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you?” Hunk asks. “Like he’s a Mathematics professor and you’re Euclid's algorithm, the most efficient method for computing the greatest common divisor of two numbers without leaving a remainder.”

There’s a moment of silence as Hunk sighs with joy. Pidge gives him a sympathetic smile while Lance stares at him, a neutral look on his face.

“You see, because Euclid’s algorithm is--” Hunk tries to explain.

“He gets hit Hunk. It’s very beautiful and you love math,” Pidge shakes her head with a smirk. “Just...look at the difference in Keith when you’re in the room versus when you’re not. There’s a _huge_ difference. It’s not the sort of thing you see with ‘ _casual_ ’ acquaintances.”

Lance goes from a little blush to raging inferno upon his face. Really? There’s something that obvious going on and he never noticed?

He shoves his hands into his jean pockets to keep them from shaking with nerves. Keith said they weren’t together and there’s no indication they’ll be anything more than that. And sure, Lance is fairly certain Keith likes him more than he lets on. But still…

“He’s in your room, by the way,” Pidge addresses Lance after listening to a computer science story involving algorithms from Hunk. “He was moving his stuff over there.”

“Really?” Lance grins.

“More boyfriend things. I mean, who moves into a room with just a ‘casual’ friend?” Hunk winks and gives him a one arm hug around the shoulder. “You know it’s big if Keith’s giving up his solitude to be around you at all hours.”

“Yeah, none of us could do that. I told him you’d be washing dishes the whole time up to the mission. He looked a little put out. So he’s probably not expecting you back,” Pidge hints and gestures her head to the door. “Get moving. You’ve only got one varga left. I’ll help finish, even though I hate dishpan hands.”

“Great!” Hunk beams. “I have this great joke our professor told us. It’s my favorite. If you like symbolic logic, it’s even funnier.”

“I owe you one,” Lance points to them and heads for the door. “Both of you. Thanks!”

“I will collect!” Pidge shouts as he disappears from sight.

His feet echo down the hall in fast slaps against the floor as he runs for his room, the burden of hiding lifted from him. A freeing feeling of weightlessness as he skids around corners to reach the room. His room. Lance’s grin spreads wide.

Their room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 16, 2017

As soon as Lance leaves for the kitchen to help Hunk, Keith heads to his room for his stuff.

Two vargas before they go on the next mission. He needs to eat, clean up, and change into his armor before then. There’s some space-something in a bowl on the table. He thinks Coran mentioned it being a fruit or a tuber or something. It doesn’t have to be cooked either, so he picks it up and takes a big bite out of it, grimacing at the flavor. Bland.

Keith rummages around trying to find all the parts to his armor and quirks a brow when he can’t find pieces. Did he put his helmet down somewhere? Where are his gloves?

“Oh, right,” he remembers. “Lance’s room.”

He keeps forgetting things over there. His blanket and pillow are there too. It’s only a matter of time before he leaves his day clothes there. They should just consolidate their belongings into one room. Make it easier to find everything.

Not a bad idea.

Before he knows it he’s got his armor, his weapons, and his potted plant gathered up in his arms. Won’t Lance be surprised to find all his stuff in his room. Keith can almost see that dopey look of shock already followed by a bracing grin. Keith chuckles a little, looking forward to it. Pidge nearly runs into him, in the middle of carrying and typing on her laptop while heading towards the cafeteria for a quick snack.

“What are you doing?” Pidge eyes his belongings.

“Moving,” he says, his answer clipped and to the point.

“Into Lance’s room?” Pidge insinuates with her brows and cheeky grin.

“Yeah,” Keith nods.

“You know he’s probably not going to make it back to the room before finishing kitchen duty?” Pidge informs him.

His gaze falls a little and he hopes his disappointment isn’t too obvious. He gives her a shrug to show he’s not bothered by this and continues on his way.

Pidge watches as he uses his elbow to open Lance’s door, entering without another word to her. He places his things on the table and looks around. There’s his helmet, on the floor next to Lance’s bathrobe. And his gloves, one sticking of a drawer and the other at the foot of the bed.

What a sty. For someone so meticulous in their skin care and physical cleanliness, Lance’s organizational skills were wholly lacking. How does he find anything? Ever? Is that food under the bed? Keith decides after their next mission, he’s going to clean this dumpster fire of a room, but for now a quick shower.

It seems forever ago that he first let Lance watch him shower. Let him watch him masturbate from the door. It turned into Lance getting his first blowjob from Keith. At the time, it was just a way to relieve some stress but now…

He’s been having trouble treating their more recent interactions with such indifference. Keith thinks about Lance all the time now. When he’s training. Reading. Sleeping. Even now in the shower as he contemplates jacking off. His hand hovers an inch over his cock before he grumbles and takes the hand away.

Before he could have just envisioned Lance and he’d be done in twelve strokes or less. Now he feels guilty about it and he’s not sure why. Suppose he can just wait until after the mission. Which could be DAYS without stimulation. God, he hasn’t gone that long without something in...ever?

And to think he’s willing to forgo his daily masturbation just to wait for Lance.

What’s wrong with him?

Keith towels off and throws on his boxers. He could change into his armor but he also wants to lay down to read. Reading to Lance earlier made him want to finish a few more chapters and the paladin armor is hardly comfortable enough to laze back in. Instead he grabs a jacket off the chair and slips it on. It feels strange and it takes him a minute after flopping onto the bed to realize why.

It’s not his, it’s Lance’s.

In all the time he had it in his room he never considered putting it on but now that it is...It’s too big, the sleeves a bit too long. The torso is too long as well. He feels like he’s practically swimming in it. And it smells a little like sweat. Definitely in need of a wash. That being said...Keith zips it, pulls the hood up, and begins reading on the bed.

After a few minutes of silence he begins reading aloud.

“The cub had never seen man, yet the instinct concerning man was his. In dim ways he recognized in man the animal that had fought itself to primacy over the other animals of the Wild,” Keith narrates. “The spell of the cub’s heritage was upon him, the fear and the respect born of the centuries of struggle and the accumulated experience of the generations. The heritage was too compelling for a wolf that was only a cub.”

Is he like that too? Does he contain all the primal fears, dreams, and experience of the generations that came before him? How much of his thoughts and choices are his own? How many decided long before his birth by his ancestors? Is he who he is because of them? Is he destined to become like them? Like Zarkon?

Keith puts the book down with a sigh. Now even reading can’t still his mind like it used to. He could go to the training deck, he supposes, but he just showered. Before he can think of something else to do the door whirs and opens, granting entrance to a panting Lance. Keith sits up, alert and grateful for company.

Lance can’t help but notice the slight curl in Keith’s smile and the way his eyes lit up at his arrival. Were Pidge and Hunk right? It must be involuntary because Keith doesn’t react to cover up the dead giveaway his face is giving. He’s...happy to see Lance.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asks.

“Playing hooky,” Lance winks, shooting finger guns at him. “What about you? Hey! Are you wearing my jacket?”

“Uh,” Keith looks down at the sleeves as if he’d forgotten it was on. “Yeah. I was reading.”

“That book of yours? Nice, don’t let me stop you,” Lance grins and jumps onto the bed. He crawls his way up between Keith’s legs and lies down, face turned up to look at Keith. “Go ahead. I want to know what happens next.”

Keith smirks. Suddenly he feels more inclined to read with Lance there. He grabs the book, licks a finger and flips through until he finds the page he was on last.

“Had he been full-grown, he would have run away. As it was, he cowered down in a paralysis of fear, already half proffering the submission that his kind had proffered from the first time a wolf came in to sit by man’s fire and be made warm,” Keith recites and turns the page. “One of the Indians arose and--”

Keith stops for a moment, feeling Lance rub his chin on his crotch.

“What did you stop for?” Lance looks up, perplexed, feigning innocence all too well.

Keith swallows and continues as if nothing occurred. “One of the Indians arose and walked over to him and stooped above him. The cub cowered closer to the--”

He has to stop yet again as he feels Lance nudging him, rubbing his mouth, chin, and nose into his semi-hard dick. Lance looks up with no hint of shame or guilt in what he’s doing. As Keith brings the book up again Lance’s fingers slowly spider their way to Keith’s waistband and fidget with the fabric.

Keith gets through almost a page before he feels Lance stick his tongue through the fold in his boxers making him nearly drop the book altogether. Lance snickers and a mischievous grin spreads across his face.

“Did you want me to put this down?” Keith asks, a flush on his face.

“Nope, not at all. Keep going,” Lance encourages as he pulls Keith out to nose his length.

Keith stares, stunned for a moment, before bringing the book up to cover his face and read.

He’s only three words in before Lance tests his self control again by licking the tip of his cock. He manages a few sentences but not without pauses for sighs and sharp breaths. How long before he can’t read a single word and the only thing coming out of his mouth is panting moans? How long before he throws the book, one of his most prized possessions, against the wall in a fit of desire?

Lance stops licking and engulfs the whole length when Keith is in the middle of sentence, cutting it short with a gasping moan. Lance can’t help but chuckle, or chuckle as much as he can with his mouth full of cock. He sucks and tongues the slit, getting a taste of salt.

“A-Also, he a-appreciated the p-p-power with which they a-ah!-administered the l-law,” Keith pants, licking his dry lips. “L-Lance.”

Keith puts the book off to the side and it falls off the bed when he shifts to roll his hips into Lance’s hungry mouth. The pressure makes the blue paladin moan and swirl his tongue fervently, desiring more. He slips off the jacket, not wanting it to get dirty and drops it off the side of the bed as well. Keith’s hands instinctively grab for Lance’s head, threading his fingers into hair. His eyes close as he tries to fight the desire to just explode in Lance’s mouth. With the way he’s slurping down pre-come Keith doubts Lance would object but there’s a lingering feeling deep in his gut.

He shouldn’t. Not with what he now knows about his body. It’s...like drugging someone, isn’t it? And without their knowledge? Even if Lance is hungry for it, even if he begs and pleads, would it be right to do it? It doesn’t feel right.

And he can’t tell Lance about his suspicions. He’s about 75% sure he’s somehow related to the Galra through his mother. And with all the Galra they’ve fought...it’s hard to imagine the team being perfectly fine with it. Would he have to leave Voltron? Leave the only place that’s felt like home in years? Leave Lance?

“Keith,” Lance sighs, sliding his tongue up his length and bringing Keith back from his thoughts.

“Y-Yeah?” Keith pants.

“I’m gonna...I wanna…” he licks his lips and eyes Keith’s cock. His face is flushed, eyes lidded. “I don’t want to stop until...until you’re done.”

With that Lance takes his full length again and Keith gasps, clenching the sheet and Lance’s hair tight in his hands. When he looks down he can see Lance pressing his hips into the bed, trying for a feeling of pressure on his own boner.

How much does he want Lance to do that to him and not the mattress, to rub his cock against his own ass? To moan as Lance presses his slick lubed up length up inside him, thrusting as he suckes bruises into neck--God he’s going to--

To his dismay and embarrassment Keith pulls Lance off him at the last second. His come spurts up onto his stomach and a splattering of it hits Lance in his face. Luckily he closed his eye at the last second.

“Dude,” Lance whines, keeping his eye shut. He almost looks annoyed if not for the smile forming on his face. He snorts and laughs. “I can’t believe you just--”

“S-Sorry,” Keith apologizes, stifling a laugh of his own.

“Don’t just sit there, pass a towel or something,” Lance gestures. “Or you know, clean me up yourself.”

Not a bad idea. Keith reaches out and cups Lance’s face, drawing it in close for his tongue to lick off. He feels bad about the friendly fire but in his gut he knows it’s better than the alternative, at least until he can explain himself and give Lance the chance to decide if that’s something he really wants. This way at least, no one’s getting dosed except him and he has a feeling the effect is somewhat dulled on himself. It makes him heady but not ready to faint.

Having Keith lick come off his face is not how he pictured spending their time together. While he was nervous about sucking his come down, he’d resolved to do it. Just to know what it feels like. What it tastes like. Keith finishes up by lapping the last drop from his jawline.

He still can taste it if he’s quick enough.

Lance grabs Keith’s face and presses his mouth to his, no uncertainty in what he truly wants. Keith’s eyes are blown wide by the forwardness of it and can only let Lance’s tongue in without a fight. His tongue chases the salty flavor in his mouth, trying to catch the last of it before Keith can swallow.

“I wanted to...taste you...you jerk,” Lance sighs. “What a...waste. Make it up to me?”

“Sure,” Keith nods, the corner of his mouth sliding upwards to form a half smile.

The kiss was unavoidable but hopefully not enough to diminish his faculties.

Keith rolls them until his body towers over Lance. The blue paladin tilts his neck, hoping Keith will go for it. He doesn’t disappoint and dives in, mouth kissing and teeth grazing in equal measure. In the midst of the blissful devastation he’s unleashing on his neck Keith’s hand unzips Lance’s jeans, palming his way inside until he gets a hold of Lance. He melts the moment he begins to stroke, only barely keeping his fingers in Keith’s hair by clenching them tight.

“God,” Lance sighs.

“Just me,” Keith hums into Lance’s neckline sending a shiver down his spine.

Lance can’t help but giggle, something he hasn’t done since he was a child. A bubbling laughter rises out of him, a smile that he can’t will away. This is honestly the happiest he’s ever felt and all because Keith is stroking him with his face buried in his neck. He feels light, nearly floating, until Keith bites his shoulder, pulling him back to his body with a shaking moan. Keith flashes a sharp grin and does it again, slow and hard, being sure to suck on the flesh afterwards. Biting Lance results in the best noises he’s ever heard.

“I like...when you do that,” Lance moans.

“When I bite you?”

“When you...bite hard…” Lance nods, his head tilted back, ready for another. Feels like Keith is staking a claim. Like he’s saying ‘this is mine’ without saying anything at all. Makes Lance feel special. “I love it.”

“Well,” Keith flushes at the word ‘love’. “Good. I like doing it.”

“Will you leave a mark?” he asks and taps his fingers to his neck. “Here?”

“No,” Keith shakes his head. “It’s...trashy. Like those hickies you gave me.”

Lance makes a pitiable whine. “Please? You can put it somewhere no one will see.”

He supposes that’s more acceptable. Having the entire team know they’re intimate is one thing but showing the evidence of that intimacy is another entirely. Private matters are private. No one needs to know exactly what they do in the dark of their room. But a mark somewhere unseen isn’t an unreasonable request. And the way those eyes are begging for it, how could he possibly refuse?

Keith noses his way down Lance’s body, eyeing prospective spaces for his work. It comes as no surprise to him that Lance is into marks. Considering the field of bruises he left on Keith’s neck, he should have expected this sooner. But where to put it? Keith swirls a finger in a circle over Lance’s hip, right at his waist.

“Here?” Keith asks but then thinks about those long legs he likes so much and circles his thigh. “Or here?”

“Either. Both. I don’t care, Keith,” Lance rolls his hips, thrusting his cock in Keith’s hands, wanting more. “Just... _ **bite** _ me already?”

Keith raises a questioning brow at his tone of voice. It sounds awfully impertinent for someone who’s body is quivering in the wake of the person above them. Petulant for someone who’s vulnerable manhood is literally in someone else’s hands. Lance can’t maintain the facade of an in commanding attitude long, especially with Keith trailing his tongue up his length and grazing his teeth on the bulb of his cock.

“P-please?” Lance changes his tune. “Please?”

The sudden meekness and pleading has Keith smirking victoriously. Lance’s dick now slick with saliva, Keith pumps it again in slow strokes as he uses his other hand to brace Lance’s leg. To hold it still as he administers the first in a series of exacting and nearly brutal bites.

He starts with the thigh and Lance lets out a subdued moan. The next bite goes on his hip, sharp with heavy pressure. That one makes Lance whimper and shiver, the combined stimulus of the painful bite and pleasurable rhythm of Keith’s stroking hand. Keith is certain, without a doubt, the second one will bruise.

“K-Keith...God, that...has n-no business...feeling as good as--ah!--as it does,” Lance groans and bites on his finger to keep from getting too loud and to relish in the feel of something in his mouth.

Keith smirks in response and noses his way up Lance’s torso, his own breath ragged. Maybe a few extra bites since Lance enjoys them so much. He tastes too good to stop any how.

Biting has always thrilled him, an urge he hardly got to satisfy back on Earth. Not everyone likes that sort of thing and he’s glad Lance does. So he peppers more deep bites on his way up getting more sighs, moans, and whines. When Lance starts pulling on his own hair, deep at the roots, Keith knows he’s close. But he’s biting hard at his bottom lip now, holding back his orgasm.

It makes Keith chuckle as he worries a mark with his teeth, right under his nipple.

“Why are you holding back?” Keith asks, trying not to shake his head.

“I just...I wanted to see how long...I could last. Just to see if I could...last longer than you,” says Lance just before letting out a weak mewling noise as Keith thumbs the pre-come pearling on the tip of his cock.

“Harder than it looks?” Keith comments as he mouths his pecs, sliding a tongue between them.

“That’s what he said,” Lance gasps out, unable to resist the set up.

With that joke Keith bites down hard on his shoulder. Lance can’t contain the noise that comes out of him, something between a surprised shout and ecstatic wail, as he shakes and comes explosively into Keith’s hand. With how close their bodies are nothing is spared a sticky fate, the come splatters on Keith’s bare stomach and drips down onto Lance’s own.

Lance sinks into the pillows, body weak and shivering from overstimulation. He looks absolutely done, his skin flushed from his face all the way down his chest. A sheen of sweat coating his body and dampening the sheets. His hair ruffled from where he was grabbing and pulling. Body completely spent and covered in bite marks, some of which are red while others take on darker hues.

He looks perfect.

It’s a minute before Keith realizes he’s staring at Lance in awe but he’s not quick enough to hide the look on his face. Lance sees it. The stare Hunk was talking about. Like he’s a framed piece of art in a museum, one that he just passionately pinned to a wall.

“What?” Lance asks, sitting up a little to get a better look at that face.

“N-Nothing,” Keith mumbles, looking away under the pretense of finding a towel to clean them up. He snatches it up and wipes them down. “I think I bit too hard on that last one.”

“I don’t think so,” Lance disagrees with a suggestive waggle of his eyes.

“This skin is nearly broken,” Keith informs him as he finishes cleaning him off.

“Seriously? Get off, I wanna look in the mirror,” Lance clambers up and rushes to the bathroom.

Lance was not prepared for what he sees. So many. There are so many marks. He only remembers about four of them but there’s...six, seven, eight...Eleven. There are eleven bite bruises stark against his skin.

“Wow,” is all Lance can manage as he takes them in.

“Yeah,” Keith comes in scratching the back of his head, looking down apologetic and feeling a little guilty. “Sorry. I was...uh, overzealous.”

“Overzealous? You? Never!” Lance snorts. “It didn’t hurt, don’t worry. I asked for it, literally.”

“Still…” Keith mumbles.

Lance traces his fingers over the marks, committing them to memory. He eyes each and every one of them with a pleased smile, trying to remember the order in which they occurred. It takes Keith a moment to figure out why Lance touching each mark so gently makes him blush. Lance is admiring his work. Keith has pride, in spades, but when it comes to this he feels more embarrassed than proud.

“They’ll all be gone in a couple days,” Keith assures him.

“What? That soon?” Lance says, disappointed.

“Maybe not this one,” Keith tells him with a tap to the shoulder. “It may take longer. A week?”

“It’s like a personal stamp,” Lance smiles. “ ‘Keith was here’. Nice.”

That look on his face makes Keith flush red. Lance grinning, so happy to have something of Keith’s, even if it is something temporary. Something to carry around with him, a reminder under his armor. Who knew such a small, trivial thing could make someone beam like that?

“Could you, uh…”

“What?” Lance turns, finger still rubbing his favorite bitemark.

Keith turns away flustered all of a sudden. “Nothing...N-Nevermind,” he mumbles, a hand over his thundering heart.

“Okay,” Lance shrugs and turns back to the mirror, checking the marks at different angles, fexing and shooting finger guns at himself.

What’s wrong with him? Never in his life has he wanted anything to remember his lays by. But Lance is hardly just a lay. They were friends. Now that he’s thinking about it, closer than just friends. Closer than he’s been with anyone. Would it be so strange if were a little attached? Would it really be so strange to want something of Lance’s?

Keith swallows nervously. He hates hickeys but right now all he wants is a big one on his chest, just like the bite mark he put on Lance. And Lance would give him one without needing to be asked twice and yet--

Why can’t he ask for it?

It’s not like it’s a marriage proposal. It’s not an engagement ring. Just a bruise, not a declaration of everlasting love. Not a promise of days to come. Just a little, ‘Lance was here’ signature, discreetly hidden under his clothes and armor but unmistakably there. Private. Special. His.

He just has to ask.

“Actually,” Keith clears his throat but it does little to help his rambling tone. “I uh...if you want, to make us even, since I bit too hard...you can leave a hickey. Just one...I guess. But uh, only if you want. You don’t have to though. I don’t really care.”

Lance turns, a perplexed look on his face and stares at the incredibly uncomfortable Keith. He then bursts into laughter, clutching at his stomach and wincing when he pushes a mark too hard. That doesn’t stop the laughter though.

“What was that? What did you do with Keith?” Lance wipes his eyes of his giggle tears. Keith simply crosses his arms and pouts, making a throaty growl noise to signify he’s annoyed. Lance elaborates. “I mean, what happened to ‘I like straightforwardness’? Dude, you said three words on the couch to tell me you wanted to kiss.”

“It was just...an offer,” Keith grumbles, agitated. “No one said you had to take it.”

“Calm down, your mullet’s bristling,” Lance snickers.

Keith looks away with a huff. What a mistake. He should have just kept his mouth shut. That was far more shame-inducing than anything he’s done to date. And Lance will never let him live it down now. A hand gives his shoulder a squeeze and pulls to turn him. Lance’s sympathetic face meets his.

“I’ll do it, just ask. For real this time. Not whatever that was,” Lance rolls his eyes at the last bit.

Keith opens his mouth but pinches it closed. It feels weird. Lance waits, patient and attentive. Keith’s thumbs rub up and down on his arms, bringing him a small comfort. He swallows down his nerves and takes a deep breath.

“Will you...give me...a hickey?” he finally asks.

“Hell yeah, I’ll give you twenty!” Lance perks up.

“Just one.”

“Where?” Lance waggles his brows suggestively again.

“I don’t care...just not my neck,” Keith points a warning finger at him.

“Got it.”

Lance unfurls Keith’s arms to move them from his chest to look for a prime location. His eyes light up when he chooses a spot.

He sucks hard on the skin just below his left nipple. Between breaths he licks the sensitive nub of flesh, giving Keith momentary jitters from the feeling. Does Lance know how sensitive they are? Or is it a coincidence he chose that area? Neither would surprise Keith, especially considering Lance’s track record when it comes to noticing little things. When he’s finished Lance steps back and looks at it through the frame of his fingers.

“Not bad, not bad. One of my finest works,” Lance nods proudly.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Keith shrugs. He tries to look down but the angle keeps him from seeing it.

“Gonna suit up. We’ve got less than...half a varga before meet up,” Lance steps past him. “Know where my boots are?”

“Under the bed,” Keith calls over his shoulder as he enters the bathroom and closes the door to inspect the hickey without an audience.

It’s big and dark, definitely capable of lasting three days at least. Keith rolls his eyes when he notices it’s in the shape of a heart. It looks good though. Lance really does have a skilled mouth, it seems. He runs a finger around it, outlining the edge. A heart. Lance’s heart.

Without him being aware of it his gaze softens a little and he smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 16, 2017

The data Pidge mines from Sendak’s memories produces a target: the galactic hub. Or at least that’s what Pidge is calling it. A station for Galra fleet shipments to come and go. A space airport. At first, it doesn’t seem the most valuable of locations. There are probably hundreds of bases such as this. But…

“Why is it hidden?” Pidge asks the question they’re all thinking.

They go in low and fast, escaping detection and infiltrating with very little trouble at all. Working together as a team for a while has made this a seamless operation. They’re scanning through the travel archives faster than Hunk can say crème brûlée.

Finally, they’ll get some answers. It fills Keith with anticipation and excitement though it hardly shows on his face.

A ship comes in and Keith alerts the others just in time for them to scatter and avoid the hailing call. With Hunk’s ingenuity, they manage to avoid detection a second time and finish their scans.

Nothing. Just shipment schedules and locations. Keith huffs with disappointment. Here he was hoping they’d find something useful. More dead ends.

“It's scheduled to be here for about a half an hour, then head off to Central Command,” Pidge informs them.

Central command? Maybe this isn’t such a loss after all. They should just jump aboard that ship to-

“That's where they have the information we need, and I'm going to sneak aboard that ship and get it for us,” says Allura.

Finally, someone itching to ‘do’ something like he is. Keith’s all for getting in there and finding things but he’d be spotted in an instant. Lance mirrors the sentiment, proclaiming it impossible. But then she changes right before their eyes.

They all stare with a mix of shock and confusion as her skin’s hue flushes from tanned to a light purple. Their shock turns to wide-eyed amazement as she grows until her body towers above them. This is the closest they’ve been to anything that even looks close to a Galra without being shot at. So this is what a Galra looks like up close. Well, sort of.

Keith wonders. In another world or time, would he have looked like this too? A shade of purple? Or maybe gray? Would it be skin? Or fur? Would he have had a tail? Or big fluffy ears? Bright gold sclera?

Shiro and Allura argue for a moment about her going. Their leader worries about her safety and it shows on his brow. A soft kind of concern that won’t allow him to raise his voice in objection. He can’t stop her but that doesn’t mean he’ll allow her to go alone. Everyone needs backup.

“Shiro’s hand is made from Galra tech. It's the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel,” Pidge enters the conversation, stopping the argument cold.

Keith looks away and stares at his own hand. It can’t gather the intel they need but...it most certainly can access their systems. A shame this particular outing calls for discretion. Two people is already pushing the possibility of stealth, even if one looks like a Galra. Plus he’d need to explain his circumstance, the reason he’s able to open those doors. And they have little time for an explanation.

So he waits with the others, eyeing Lance to infer his thoughts. He’s unusually serious looking, Lance. Paying attention to things happening around them. Making comments on the mission and not distracted in the least. Except, Lance’s thumb rubs at his chest gently with his arms crossed, a small smirk on his face.

That’s where one of those bites is.

Keith wouldn’t call it distracted but...He swallows and thinks on his own little mark. He hasn’t much time to think on it before something new catches his attention. A sinister looking person in a hood and mask. Is he Galra? He can’t tell but he is in charge as evidenced by his directing the sentries.

“Check out this guy. Whatever's happening here that requires the base to be kept secret must have something to do with that scary dude,” Keith nods in the direction of the mysterious person. This is a good chance to get some answers, for the team and himself. The more he knows about the Galra, the better. “I'm going to go check it out.”

Lance tries being sensible, something Keith can’t quite stand. Like he’s trying to be in charge since Shiro’s gone. Telling him to stay and not blow their cover but Lance doesn’t understand. He can’t. Lance knows who he is, knows where he belongs. Keith has never...and never will know if he doesn’t find out for himself.

Anyway, it’s not like he’ll get caught. Even he’s not _that_ reckless. He’s almost feels offended that Lance assumes he’d just waltz in there for everyone to see. Sword swinging and yelling. Please, he’s not an idiot.

So, with surety, he walks out the door to investigate, not even giving Lance the benefit of an over the shoulder glance to suggest he doubts himself for a minute.

*****

Keith’s being himself and Lance can say he’s not surprised in the least. He’s not even mad.

Keith does this sort of thing all the time, why should it be different now that they’re intimate? Pidge and Hunk chat about hacking the robot but the talk is boring. If they’re going to pass the time waiting for everyone to get back, they’re going to pass it talking about something important.

“Quick question: Does Keith talk about me when I’m not in the room?” Lance asks.

Pidge and Hunk share a look and then snort out laughter. Pidge keeps typing but they both continue to giggle.

“Oh, all the time,” Hunk rolls his eyes.

“Really?” Lance grins.

“No,” the both shake their heads, laughing.

“Lance, Keith barely talks when you _are_ in the room. He talks even less when you’re not,” Pidge shakes her head and clacks the keys on the laptop.

“It’s true,” Hunk nods.

“Man,” Lance whines with a frown.

“Don’t be down, Lance,” Hunk says, trying to cheer him up. “If anything, it means Keith has more to say when you’re there to hear it.”

That does make him feel a little better. At least it does until Pidge’s hacked robot smacks him square in the face. It hurts but even the sting can’t take away the feeling of elation at the thought of Keith being more social by simply being in his presence.

*****

Keith keeps his coms silent as he sneaks his way through the entrance. How would Lance do this? Keep quiet and hidden. Keep distance. Look for opportunities and avoid conflict if it all possible to prevent injury. It’s a good idea, even if it is boring in comparison to battle.

For Lance’s sake, he’ll try to be safe.

Quintessence. Coran says it with such confusion and dismay as if it is something that should not be possible for the Galra to obtain. How are they making it? Refining it? Keith catches something about high energy volume and fuel but not much else through his com. If it’s that much of a mystery...maybe he should grab some for Pidge to study. Maybe it’ll even give them a leg up on what the Galra are planning.

“I’m gonna steal some of this Quint-whatever.”

He maintains his stealth through the structure, avoiding sentries. The masked person channels energy through the large container, turning it from orangish-yellow to a malevolent violet. Are they corrupting it? But the container is smaller now. Perhaps, condensing it? Regardless, he runs, snatches the container and lands with a roll on the other side of the transport rail.

It’s colder than he expected and gives off a tingling sensation, like static he can feel through his armored gloves. Nice. He even managed it without getting caught. He can’t wait to rub it in Lance’s smug little--

“Oof!”

Something hits the back of his head and sends him flying, the canister of purple quintessence skids across the floor. The masked stranger steps toward it and gently picks it up.

God, if Lance says anything close to ‘I told you so’-

“Okay...plan B!” he grumbles and draws his bayard.

He swings with a feral yell, certain his strike will be dead on but the enemy disappears and then reappears further off to replace the container. They’re not concerned in the slightest, not even taking an aggressive stance until after Keith tries a few more times to hit them. They just keep poofing out of existence and reappearing at a more advantageous position. And it’s starting to piss him off a little.

If he fought like their usual enemies, he doesn’t doubt he’d mop the floor with them. This magic evasion crap just feels cowardly.

And then the masked person fires a blast of purple energy at him. Keith is very nearly caught off guard but avoids the sparks. He tries again and narrowly misses the crackling lightning a second time. It creates smoke after striking and Keith uses it as a smokescreen, to get behind them.

The blade comes down directly into the hand of lightning. Keith has the thought a little too late that maybe this wasn’t the best plan. It explodes and sending him flying into a container across the room.

“Agh!!” Keith growls in pain, clutching his hand.

That energy...it burned away his armor and his flesh. Like being dissolved in acid. It feels like whatever it was is _still_ burning him.

He tries clenching his fingers but only groans and moans in response. They don’t move and it hurts to try. He’s never felt a burning sensation as bad as this and he swears he can see it eating away at his skin as he sits there. He’s on fire. It’s the only feeling left. If he takes another blow like that, and to his face...The image of the helmet being of little protection mortifies him.

Lance was right; this was stupid. He should have been more careful. He shouldn’t be alone. It’s time to call it in and get out while he still can.

“I need extraction now! Hurry!” he calls through the com.

Pidge confirms and assures them that they’ll be there soon. He hopes Lance can’t hear the way he bites back his groans and hisses of pain. Needs to get medical treatment before it completely dissolves his hand. And now the enemy is firing more blasts at him.

Shit.

He focuses on just avoiding the hits. No point in trying to block or strike back. Just keep from getting hit. Live to fight another day. Next time he’ll be smarter, more prepared.

Pidge comes crashing through the walls. It throws off a ball of necrotic lightning coming for his face. His hands go up to block it reflexively as it destroys, not his face but, the container behind him, splashing warm quintessence all over him.

At least it’s not acidic.

“Get in! We have to get Shiro and Allura!” Pidge shouts over the speaker.

Keith looks around once more for the masked person. Nothing. They’re gone, whoever they were, smart enough to know they are no match for a Voltron lion. Keith climbs into the mouth of the green lion and as it closes he eyes his hand again.

“Huh?” he questions as he looks at the wound.

His hand is absorbing the chemical. The burned off skin begins repairing itself, knitting together the flesh from its dissolved state. A revitalizing wave of warmth. The pain retreats as the pleasant tingling sensation creeps up his arm, far past the damage.

The injury is healed but the feeling continues to travel up his arm to his shoulder. Then to his neck. It then spreads up from there to the rest of his body simultaneously. Into his other arm and fingers, down his torso to his toes, and finally up his neck and head.

He feels dizzy for a moment, nauseous and feverish, like a flash of heat from heat stroke. Before he can comment on it through the com, the feeling abates. It’s gone. As if it were never there.

“What was that?” Keith whispers, staring at his now fully healed hand.

It hardly matters. They have much bigger problems right now.

As soon as they’re together again Keith notices someone’s missing. Allura. Shiro looks shocked and dejected, which plants a weight in each of their stomach’s before he even speaks. The words pain Shiro to say, voice ragged with guilt.

“She sacrificed herself to save me,” Shiro says, his teeth clenched.

Everyone looks alarmed. He didn’t mean dead, right? For a second Keith pales thinking it was his fault. If he hadn’t run off like that maybe she’d still--Pidge clarifies that she’s not dead but in fact on the ship taking off.

This brings him a little relief but that ship is heading for Zarkon’s central command. The place that’s too dangerous for them to attack? Keith had trouble with that magic flinging masked adversary and now they’re going to take on an entire fleet?

But Shiro doesn’t seem to care how dangerous it is even though only hours before he told them they couldn’t go for it without a plan. An organized assault strategy. Now he wants them to go in all guns firing to get her back. He’s not the same Shiro who lead them into the fight. All his rational decisions were abducted with Allura.

Once they’re on the ship and downloading all of Shiro’s data the arguing begins anew. Coran’s upset with Shiro, Shiro’s mad at himself. Pidge wants to rush in as soon as possible, Lance mirrors the sentiment with the addition that they run away afterward. The only one with a semblance of forethought is Hunk, reminding them that they had trouble with a single fleet let alone the hundreds that will be at Central Command.

Keith can’t help but feel if this had been anyone other than Allura that maybe Shiro wouldn’t act so rashly. That maybe he wouldn’t rush through a plan like this if he wasn’t so fond of her. He himself would never...Keith swallows. There is a suggestion that Shiro hasn’t considered. Keith has to say it--doesn’t want to but--hopefully, the team will see it as the smartest move.

They don’t.

The reaction to his suggestion is visceral. The look of shocked disapproval springs up on every face, including Lance. He gets called cold hearted by Hunk before he explains himself.

“I'm not saying I _like_ the idea. I'm just thinking like a paladin,” Keith huffs.

“No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!” Lance practically shouts, his disappointment clear in his tone.

Do what’s right.

Keith huffs and looks away. It’s not like he wants to abandon Allura. He’s just very sure Zarkon isn’t going to harm her. It wouldn’t serve his needs. He wants Voltron more than anything. He’s not about to kill Allura when she can be juicy bait for their team. Zarkon is evil but he’s not a moron. The princess is more valuable alive than dead so they don’t need to hurry in saving her. It means they have time to think of a better plan.

“Focus. I know we need a solid plan to get Allura,” Shiro sighs. “Just...give me a minute.”

Shiro shoots Keith a glance that’s somewhere between tired, hurt, and angry before he steps out of the room. It doesn’t last long but it’s enough to prompt Keith into following him out into the hall away from everyone else. To apologize for his cold suggestion.

“Shiro! I...I didn’t mean to sound like I was questioning you,” Keith says as he rubs his exposed fingers. “Or sound like I don’t care. I just...Sorry.”

He’s just trying to be level headed like Shiro usually is. To be patient and think of good plans that make sense. He’s trying to move away from impulsive actions and Shiro’s plan sounded just like something Keith would have done a month ago. He didn’t mean to question his leadership or to come across as uncaring but...

“It’s alright Keith, I know you didn’t mean it maliciously,” Shiro sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He’s never seen Shiro so frustrated before. “You’re thinking like a leader would. Should.”

“But I shouldn’t,” Keith says. “That’s your job.”

“But you’re right about this plan, Keith,” Shiro shakes his head and raps his fist on the wall. “It’s...it’s not a smart move but I...I know it’s the right one...I can’t-- _**we** _ can’t--leave her out there. I guess I’m not exactly being impartial.”

“Because it’s Allura?” Keith asks.

Shiro’s eyes close with a slight nod. Yes, of course, it’s because it's Allura. She’s important to him. He’d do anything to make sure nothing terrible befell her. It’s why he insisted on going with her and now he feels like he failed her. Shiro presses his knuckles into the wall as he takes a calming breath.

“I...just...It’s my fault she was taken. She sacrificed herself to save me. A better leader...could have prevented this,” Shiro grimaces.

Now he feels terrible about his suggestion. Shiro could no more abandon Allura than he could rip his own heart out. He thinks it’s his fault. Keith feels like it’s his own. How many of the team are wondering, right now, what they could have done differently?

“We’ll get her back Shiro,” Keith promises, a supportive hand on his shoulder. “I'm behind you on this.”

“Thanks, Keith,” Shiro tries to smile. He’s still concerned but there’s some relief in his eyes now. “I need to talk to Coran. About this. You should get a new gauntlet from the armory.”

*****

Lance sees them leave and watches their conversation from afar. He can’t hear it but Keith looks apologetic. If he was Shiro he’d be pissed with Keith but...Lance shakes his head. Shiro’s not that kind of guy. He’d never stay mad at anyone for long. Already, they’re parting ways, an understanding glance between them. Lance expects them both to return but only Shiro rejoins the party.

“What about Keith?” Pidge asks.

“He’s fixing up his armor,” Shiro lets them know.

“And what about Allura? Is he-”

“Keith supports the decision to save Allura,” Shiro assures them. “He was only offering some perspective. So we can see all the options.”

There’s no reason to be cross, is the underlying message in his tone. They nod in mutual understanding. Keith’s not a bad guy, just used to doing things a certain way. A loner’s way. If Keith were taken and he found out they decided to immediately rescue him, he’d be pissed they didn’t take more time to plan. Pissed thinking they thought so little of his ability to handle himself while they figured things out.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Lance sighs.

Shiro shuffles over to Coran and keeps his voice low for a private conversation. Hunk and Pidge huddle together in front of a screen, trying to appear disinterested but they both lean in nonchalantly to snoop. Lance eyes the door and quietly slips out into the hall.

Keith’s already gone to the armory. Lance needs to check in on him, to make sure he’s not put out by that accusation of selfishness and to make sure he wasn’t badly hurt. He saw the damaged gauntlet earlier but didn’t notice any injuries. Keith didn’t look pained either but...he does have quite the poker face.

Lance peers into the room as Keith’s pulling crumbling bits of armor off. It falls apart, corroded and deteriorated into ashen bits. What hit him? It looks like Keith’s hand was struck by lightning. How on earth is his hand okay?

Keith hits a few buttons and receives a new gauntlet from a machine on the wall. He pulls it from the dispenser but pauses before putting it on. Keith waggles his fingers and turns them over in front of his eyes as if looking for something. A cut? A burn? Whatever it is, Lance can’t see anything from the door.

But then Keith sways for a moment and Lance steps into the room just in time to stabilize him.

“You okay?” Lance asks, bracing his arm.

“I’m fine,” Keith says and shrugs off the helping hand. He slips on the gauntlet and clenches his fingers.

“You didn’t look fine,” Lance disagrees. “You sick?”

“I don’t think so,” Keith shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair.

Lance pulls his gauntlet off and presses cool fingers to his head. Keith looks annoyed but he doesn’t move. He’s a little warm but Keith’s always a little warm. Lance tries near his neck next, checking his pulse. Normal.

“Maybe you’re just dehydrated,” Lance guesses.

“Maybe it’s just a symptom of being a selfish prick who only thinks of himself,” Keith huffs and pushes past him.

“Keith,” Lance calls out and he stops. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for that to sound so...harsh.”

“If it were you, Lance, what do you think I’d do?” Keith asks. “What would I suggest?”

Lance stares at his back, at his stiff shoulders. His helmet held tight under his arm. He doesn’t turn to face Lance, only waits for an answer to his question. To hear if Lance thinks as little of him as he himself feels. What would Keith tell the team to do if Lance were taken instead?

“First of all, you’d never let someone take me. I’m your favorite,” Lance jokes.

“Lance,” Keith huffs, not in the mood for humor.

“Alright, alright. You’d tell everyone to be smart. Not to get lured in by a trap,” Lance sighs and then smiles. “But you’d be fighting this feeling in your gut to go punch Zarkon’s lights out.You’d want to rush out there and blow the whole base to oblivion, no holds barred.”

Keith’s shoulders relax and he chuckles. Sounds like Lance said the right thing.

“That sounds about right,” Keith sighs. “If I tell us all to stay here, to be safe and smart, I’m selfish because **_I_ ** don’t want to risk _ **my life**_ for what I know is an ambush. If I rush in, sword swinging and no plan, to save your dumb ass I’m selfish because **_I_** **_think **I'** m right_** and I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks. Either way, I’m out for the things I want.”

“Yeah, guess there’s no escaping your destiny,” Lance grins and wraps an arm around his shoulder. Keith still feels stiff in his hold. His face pensive and grim.

“Do you think if I’d stayed with the group...If I’d listened to you...If Pidge didn’t have to waste time rescuing me, that maybe--”

Is that what he’s thinking about?

“Stop. No point in worrying about it now. Besides, we know who the real culprit is and we’re about to storm his place,” Lance squeezes him a little but it doesn’t seem to help. Lance shakes his head with a sigh. “Anyway, drink some water. So you don’t get dizzy again. Meet you on the bridge.”

Lance leans over and gives him a kiss on the cheek before ruffling his hair and walking off. Keith touches his face where the kiss was planted and tries to smile. He wishes Lance would worry more about himself and not Keith's mental state.

He knows that the blame lays squarely on Zarkon’s shoulders but it doesn’t hurt to hear it from someone else. What really worries him is that dizzy spell.

He can’t be sure what happened. He was fine but then he felt hot again. The room spun and he couldn’t see but then he felt like things were hyper focused. Too detailed. It didn’t last long, maybe a few seconds, but that’s long enough to worry him.

Could he be getting sick from the quintessence? Some kind of negative side effects? Like chemical poisoning? He knew it’s healing properties were too good to be true. And now he feels itchy around the base of his neck, like a rash.

He resolves to finally submit to using one of the healing pods after they return with Allura if the tingling all over his skin doesn’t stop. After a glass of water, just to assure Lance he did drink something, he heads back to the bridge with the others to come up with a battle plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 16, 2017

The battle is everything he expected and then some. The fight is an adrenaline rush that just won’t stop. Keith knew all his preparations and practicing would come in handy. What he didn’t know was how little it would help once Zarkon joined the fight himself.

He’s supposed to be scared guessing from the shaky fear in Coran’s voice. That Zarkon is too powerful for just him and Red. The Altean’s telling him that Keith’s no match and to get out of there. But there’s a different emotion and voice guiding him now.

Red hot rage, unbridled and uncontrollable.

Before him is the one who started it all. Caused all the suffering in the known universe by conquering all he could control and destroying what he could not. To top it all off he’s standing right there like a bright bullseye ready for shooting and Keith feels an overwhelming need to end him. He’s practically a sitting duck!

They came to rescue Allura and that’s all but...Keith’s hands grip tight on the controls. If he could see them his knuckles would be taut and white, aching from how tight he’s squeezing. If he can take out Zarkon now...They could finish it. Save the universe now instead of waiting. When would they get another opportunity like this?

“This is my chance to put an end to the Galra Empire! I have to take it!”

He foregoes all reason as impatience spurs him forward with a shout. His strikes are fast but Zarkon is faster. He’d told the others to go on, that he’ll cover them until Allura is found and saved, but he doesn’t intend to leave the fight until Zarkon is dead on the ground. Or he is. He can do this, he has to.

Keith’s moves grow more and more impulsive and reckless, damaging everything in the vicinity except his target. Zarkon wails on him left and right, the damage adding up quickly. For a second Keith thinks it’s all over, Zarkon is coming for him with a weapon strong enough to destroy him. The black bayard.

But he can’t give up, not like this!

With a surge of emotion, desperation and anger, a huge cannon materializes on the Red Lion and shoots a blazing hot laser at Zarkon. It misses but causes extensive damage to part of Zarkon’s ship, and following it is a huge explosion he feels from across the battlefield. Did...was that him? Did that come from him? All that collateral damage...

“You fight like my Galra soldiers,” Zarkon laughs darkly. “But not for long.”

Keith bristles with rage and shouts, “I’m _NOTHING_ like _YOU_!”

If it’s the last thing he does, he’ll kill Zarkon himself, even if he has to use his own hands to do it. He fires again and again. This is what he’s meant to do, he can feel it. He’s destined to fight his monster but he’s losing. With all his training he’s still not strong enough. The hulking Zarkon with his bayard tosses him around like a doll.

A thought burns Keith up inside.

Zarkon is better than him. Stronger. And he’s not even in a lion. Swallowing it down hurts but...he was a fool for thinking he could take him out on his own. His lion is out of commission, won’t move no matter his panicked pleas.

“Come on! Come on!” Keith urges his lion as Zarkon rushes in for a final blow.

The cabin of the lion jostles as the Black Lion grabs him like a cub and tears off for the ship. Keith watches as the distance between them grows and Zarkon shows no sign of concern at their narrow escape. He only stands there, certain of his impending victory.

The shields prevent them from leaving and for a moment Keith worries that he was right. They never should have come. It was all a trap and now they’re all going to die because they didn’t take the time--weren’t patient enough--to plan more thoroughly. All five paladins weren’t even close to enough.

If they can’t win together, how will they ever save the universe from the Galra?

But the shield goes down and before they can question why this act of god has happened they’re wormholing their way out of there.

It’s all a blur after this point. Something strikes the ship and shakes the hanger open, sucking his lion and Shiro’s into space before they can get a hold on anything. Just before he hits the outer wall of the wormhole a com opens up, Lance’s panicked face flickers on the screen.

“--Keith! Hold on!” he shouts before it fizzles out and the screen goes dark leaving only a quickly approaching planet in his view.

They’re going to crash and there’s nothing they can do to stop it. Keith and Shiro struggle to keep their lions on course and brace themselves for the inevitable impact.

*****

Shiro’s hurt but alive. Keith’s glad to have been able to do something about it. With Red temporarily out of commission, the Black Lion was his only option. Luckily it was willing to grant his request for help. After the fight, they used the Black Lion to get away from the monster infested caverns and rejoin with the red lion.

From there they’re able to start a fire and wait under the protective gaze of their respective lions.

Their leader looks horrible. A glowing wound the same color as the magic that destroyed Keith’s gauntlet. But this looks worse and it’s expanding the longer they sit there. Each second that passes it spreads and Shiro winces in pain. He wishes they had something in the lions, an emergency first aid kit or something, anything to help but for now all Keith can do is keep Shiro company.

They talk to keep Shiro awake. He’s not sure if that’ll help but he’s seen too many movies where falling asleep means dying and he’s not about to take that chance with an evil magical wound.

Most of the time Shiro sounds delirious. Tries to joke about his injuries. Says something about Keith having what it takes to be a good leader and if something should happen, if Shiro should die---well, Keith doesn’t let him dwell on conversations like that. He changes the subject or tells Shiro to just rest.

“Think the ship is...think the Princess is alright?” Shiro asks.

“She’s on the ship. She’s fine. Allura and Coran will find us and they’ll fix you up,” Keith tells him.

“I should have told her,” Shiro winces in pain, clutching at his wound. “Before all this...Should have told her that I--”

“Stop talking like that,” Keith huffs and stokes the fire. “You’ll make it. I’m sure she knows.”

“No...” Shiro shakes his head. “I haven’t...I thought it would be--I was too scared...She’s a princess...As the leader I can’t afford the luxury of…”

Keith can’t believe it. After all the looks they give each other and the two of them aren’t even--how is that even possible? Keith lids his eyes. Shiro thinks he’s dying and his biggest regret is that he didn’t say something to her sooner. It’s kind of sad.

“Just rest for a bit,” Keith says as he adjusts Shiro’s position to a more comfortable one. He gives him some water and returns to his seat next to his helmet.

They’re not going to die there. Someone will find them, he doesn't doubt that. But if he were to die today, would he have any regrets?

**_This isn’t even a thing, Lance_ **

_It’s not?_

Keith looks away, staring at and through the landscape, lost in memory.

**_We’re not together, Lance._ **

_You like me!_

Keith scratches at his itchy hairline before grabbing his helmet. He holds it in his hands and looks at his face in the reflective surfaces. Any regrets?

_**Don’t** **you dare die.** _

_Thanks Keith....I’m sorry we fought._

He hits a few buttons to scan through video. Clips of the ship, their training sessions, and more, trying to find images of Lance. There are surprisingly few, most being short little cameos and nothing of them together.

_Did I really have to almost die for you to admit that you like me?_

_Why couldn’t you have said it before?_

Keith looks over at Shiro and remembers his words from earlier. Ones that sound surprisingly like his own. He was scared. He doesn’t want it to be like that. Lance makes no secret of how he feels about Keith, he practically broadcasts it with every glance. Anything he thinks, he says. No filter. If Lance were dying, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, he’d have nothing to say that he hadn’t already told Keith.

He even tries to get Keith to do the same, to be open, but he never takes him up on the invitation.

_Wanna talk about it?_

**_Maybe another time._ **

He hums a tune as he scans through video and saves screenshots. A couple of smiles. A few smirks. Some congratulatory shoulder punches. Ecstatic whooping after a fight. They all bring a comforting smile to his face but he runs out of data before long. It’s almost pathetic how little he has stored in the helmet’s database. So he swipes through them again for the comforting feeling it brings him.

“Nice song,” Shiro stirs and sits up. He looks a little better. “Where’d you hear it?”

Only recently has Keith taken to humming it when he’s lonely. It’s soothing for some reason.

“Uh, I dunno,” Keith shrugs. “Earth?”

Shiro chuckles and clutches at his side. “Right. That must be it.”

Keith blinks stoically and then remembers with sudden embarrassment that it's the song Lance is constantly singing around the ship. When he’s running. When he’s reading. When he washes dishes. When he showers and before he falls asleep in clinging to Keith. Shiro knows this but makes no further comment on it. Keith turns a little red and looks through his pictures again.

Shiro laughs but it’s short lived as he groans in pain.

“Do me a favor Keith?” Shiro sighs. “Don’t wait any later than you have to. Maybe you say something eventually, maybe even years later. But you’ll spend years regretting what you lost in waiting.”

“I don’t have anything to say, to anyone,” Keith mumbles, not meeting Shiro’s eyes. “Anyway, stop talking like you’re going to die. We’ll be fine as long as we stick together and never give up.”

“Spoken like a true leader,” Shiro smiles and touches Keith’s shoulder. “But think about what I said. No day is guaranteed.”

Keith nods, just to make him feel better. Shiro lets go and sits back, resting his eyes again. Keith’s stomach growls loudly and he remembers they haven’t eaten in--he checks the time--nearly sixteen vargas. God, he’s starving. He’s going to eat the fridge when he gets back.

He looks over at Shiro again to check if he’s awake. The black paladin sleeps fitfully but at least he’s keeping his strength up. Keith picks up his helmet and taps a few buttons on it, then turns it to face him. A recording light blinks to indicate it’s on.

“This is Keith,” he starts. “If you find this then...we didn’t make it.”

Keith looks over at Shiro again but he hasn’t stirred.

“Shiro’s badly injured and we have no food. We’re almost out of water,” Keith continues. “Coran and Allura: I know you tried to find us. Maybe Zarkon got to you before you could get to us. It’s not your fault. Thanks for making us paladins. We’re better people for it. Sorry if we didn’t live up to your expectations.”

He can’t believe he’s doing this. Saying his last goodbyes in the event that the others are too late.

“Hunk, you’re the most caring person I know. Without you we never could have saved the Balmerans. You saved so many lives and you do everything to treat us all like family. Even when some of us...are less than appreciative. Pidge, no one can best you in computers. I know you’re a private person so it means a lot that you tried to help me with Lance. I really hope you find your family, they’re lucky to have someone as determined and loving as you never giving up on them.”

Only one person to go.

“Lance...I uh…” Keith hesitates. “I hope...you’re okay and uh...”

How does he want Lance to remember him? If they get saved it's an easy matter of deleting the video but...if they don’t make it? He should say something to Lance. He feels warm all of a sudden and sweeps his hair back, puffing his cheeks. He swallows back a lump in his throat before continuing.

“You never hold back, when it comes to anything. You do everything wholeheartedly and honestly, like there isn’t going to be a tomorrow. You say what’s on your mind. You smile at everything. At me. I, uh,” Keith bumbles, his voice catching. “You’re really important to me Lance. And I don’t want to...uh, die, without letting you know that. Uh, I...I…”

This shouldn’t be so hard. It’s just a recording. He can’t even look at the camera, he so nervous. It’s not like Lance is really there looking at his flushed red face and listening to him as he pours his stupid heart out, something he never thought he’d ever do.

_Don’t wait._

“I think...I-I might lo-” Keith stops when he hears a boom overhead.

It looks like a wormhole and is further confirmed when the Green Lion emerges. What a relief. They’re going to be fine, like he knew they would be. No reason to keep going. He looks down at the blinking recording light on his helmet, finger hovering over the [DELETE] button.

Why does he feel disappointed?

“This is stupid,” he sighs.

Shiro wakes and is relieved to see the Green Lion heading their way. Keith turns to the camera and whispers something quickly so as not to be overheard. Afterward he taps a few buttons to stop recording, password protect it, and archive it for later.

If he really wants Lance to see it, he can show it to him later.

When he’s ready.

*****

Boy are the merfolk ever grateful for all their help. When they phased through that wormhole and crash landed the last thing he expected were mermaids. Mermaids! He can’t wait to tell Keith about it.

Who knows how long it’ll take for the merfold to set up their beacon. It’s been years since they used it. The Queen assures them it couldn’t possibly take longer than a few vargas. So she encourages them to explore the city, talk to the citizens, and whatnot.

She doesn't have to tell Lance twice. It’s like a dream come true.

Hunks stays at the main castle, talking to the chefs and cooks from the royal kitchens. Getting pointers on preparing the local food and storing as many samples as he can in his own lion. There’ll be a new menu when they get back for the first few days. As exciting as that is to hear, Lance is more interested in the landscape and in swimming about.

“Begin recording. Video and audio,” he says aloud as he swims about.

He takes shots of the local flora, corals and seaweeds of varying colors. Digs his fingers into the sand and pulls up a shell. Unfortunately, someone is living in it so he puts it down and lets the crab-like creature scurry off.

“Reminds me of the time I went diving at the reefs,” he comments then laughs. “Spent the whole day out there and I got bit by a parrotfish.”

It feels nice to be swimming again. They haven’t done anything in the water since Arus. With a start he remembers he still hasn’t taught Keith how to swim. His eyes follow a group of mermaids racing by and swimming through a coral reef shaped like a hoop. The youngest one whines that they always win and it’s not fair. The biggest lets her grab onto their fin and pulls her around back towards the city, bringing a smile back to the child's face.

“Keith, we should come back here,” he says. “Promise I’ll still teach you. And I won’t laugh.”

Where did Keith land he wonders. He hopes a forest or something. Seems like the sort of place Keith would like. A quiet place with birds chirping and frogs croaking. He’d probably climb a tree and sleep in it until the team found them.

He and Hunk landed without too much damage. Keith’s probably fine. The Red Lion will protect him. Plus, Shiro’s with him so he couldn’t be in safer hands. Despite reassuring himself, after an hour of swimming around, Lance finds himself back at his lion and climbing inside. The water drains from the chamber and he takes a seat in the cockpit.

Coms still won’t go through.

He tries a few more times to send something to the Red Lion but nothing. Then the castle. Again, nothing. Disappointing but not upsetting. Instead he sits back and plays with a little shell he found. Something to put in their room to remember the planet by. He turns it over and over in his hands humming happily.

That fight was brutal.

He was right, of course. They weren’t ready for taking out Zarkon. And Keith…

Something was different about him in that fight. After all their time spent working together, learning from one another and improving in their skills...Keith seemed to revert to being impulsive and brash. Keith was dangerously reckless and trying to fight the whole army with no regard to his life. If Shiro hadn’t gotten the Black Lion back and saved him...Lance shudders to think of it.

“That was stupid, Keith,” Lance sighs. “You could have…”

What happened to his patience? He’d been working on it so well.

Keith puts himself in danger more than anyone he knows. He’d jump into a fight with a broken limb. Lance can’t wait to get back to give him a piece of his mind. He wants to be mad but right now he can only think of how he wants to hug that dolt the minute he sees him. Wants to eat some of Hunk’s space-cooked food. Listen to Pidge rattle on about complex numerical ciphers.Take a shower and fall into his bed with Keith for a long rest.

*****

“Where’s Lance? And Hunk?” Keith asks over Pidge’s shoulder.

“Dunno. Something is blocking their signal,” Pidge admits, unconcerned. “We just have to wait.”

Keith hates waiting but manages to keep his growl to himself. Pidge does some scans and his foot taps impatiently for ten minutes until he leaves, huffing in annoyance. Nothing they can do? There’s always something that can be done. Doing nothing makes him feel worse than useless. It’s frustrating enough that he slams his fist on walls and doors as he passes them.

“She’s just not trying hard enough.”

What’s wrong with him?

Something like this would have annoyed him before but he wouldn’t go hitting things and blaming others to relieve it. He feels pent up and wound tight. He reminds himself that it’s not Pidge’s fault they can’t find them, it’s Zarkon’s.

“Patience. Yields. Focus,” he breathes and it seems to help a little. That little mantra Shiro gave him does put him in a better mindset. His stomach gives him another loud reminder of it’s empty status.

Keith had forgotten how hungry he was when Pidge picked them up, his first concern being the rest of the paladins and their locations. Maybe his hunger is putting him in a bad mood. He makes a trip to the kitchen and eats more than his fill. Eating twice as much as usual, practically clearing an entire shelf’s worth of food from the cold storage.

It does seem to help a little but now he’s antsy. He needs to do something. Keith goes to their room and flicks the switch. Empty.

“Of course it is,” Keith rolls his eyes. Why would he expect otherwise?

First he changes into his normal clothes. Then he picks up Lance’s clothes from the floor, folds them, and places them neatly on the table. His red armor joins them. Makes the bed next, tucking the edges into the mattress and fluffing the pillows. This is the downside of being off planet--very few belongings to organize. But Lance has a handful of face products in the bathroom.

“Where did he get all this stuff?” Keith wonders. Allura? Coran? No way he had all this on him when they left earth.

He cleans off the bottles and places them neatly on the shelves. It takes little time. A quick glance at his watch shows it’s only been a few dobashes. Great. Now what?

With a sigh he looks into the mirror. Maybe he should wash his face. It’s a little dusty from the planet they were marooned on. Smudges of dirt cake his face and neck. He lathers up a little soap in a washcloth and wipes it away. After a rinse he pats dry and looks again. Better but--Keith squints with confusion and peers closer.

Is that a bruise? He lifts his bangs out of the way and eyes it. A purply mark at his hairline above his eyebrow. Gives it a poke but there’s no pain. Not a bruise. A rash? Now that he’s looking at it...it itches. It’s small though, if he leaves his bangs down it’s hardly noticeable.

“What the--” he blinks, catching the same mark on his hand.

Right on the knuckles is the same rash. Barely larger than a penny. He tries rubbing it, thinking maybe it’s just dirt or something but it doesn’t go away. A panicked thought strikes him and he pulls his shirt off again, this time in front of the mirror.

Nothing on his back. Or his chest with the exception of Lance’s heart shaped hickey. He’s about to let out a sigh of relief when his breath catches in his throat. There, at his neckline, right where his hair grows, is a thin line of purple flesh. It’s in the spot on the back of his neck he’s been scratching lately.

He can’t breathe. He rubs the line but of course, nothing happens to it. If he keeps his hair down--who is he kidding? One shower together and Lance will spot it within seconds. His eyes fall to the three different bottles of Lance’s concealer and an idea forms in his head.

Fuck it.

Keith checks them all to find the lightest one and dabs it onto the purple flesh. It’s still a little dark considering Lance’s skin tone but it’s less noticeable than purple, that’s for damn sure. It smells a little strong but his options are limited. He doesn’t want the others or Lance to see this.

Purple skin like--

Keith shakes his head, “But why now?”

*****

A communication comes through Lance’s helmet. Hunk announcing that he’s helped the merfolk get their beacon in order. As if on cue, a bright beam of light shoots up out of the castle. The others should be there soon. Lance thanks him for the heads up and pilots his lion back to the castle.

“Finally, ready to go home beautiful?” Lance coos to his lion and then sighs. “Yeah, me too.”

Did he just say...home?

Well, he has been longing to get back to the castle. A meal with everyone talking about what happened and what they’ll do next. Laughing and telling jokes. Keith’s stern face as he tries not to smile at one of his puns. Playing footsies under the table. Chores including cleaning the kitchen or halls. Yeah, the castle of lions is practically home now and it feels good to be returning to a place where he knows he’s welcome.

*****

“Found them!” Pidge announces over the castle wide speakers.

Within minutes Keith’s returns to the bridge in a brisk run, slowing once he reaches Pidge’s chair. She looks in good spirits and makes no comments to suggest that either Hunk or Lance were injured. It does wonders on his emotions to know they’re alive and safe. He and Coran walk together to the blue lions hanger while Pidge goes to the yellow lion’s.

“Where’s Shiro?” Keith asks. Their leader would want to be there to welcome the team back together.

“Shiro’s in the medical bay getting treatment for that magical wound,” Coran informs him. “It’s pretty nasty.”

“Oh right,” he nods, having forgotten about it due to his own crisis in Lance’s room. “Allura’s there right?”

“Oh yes, she’s very worried for Shiro,” he says while twisting his mustache. “Perhaps as worried as he was for her, hmm?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Keith shrugs, pretending he knows nothing. It’s really not his place to comment on them. His poker face must be convincing because Coran sighs and changes the subject.

“How are you feeling? After that fight with Zarkon, I expected more injuries,” Coran eyes him and for a second Keith wonders if he covered everything well enough. “You look healthy enough, but I’m afraid all my knowledge of human anatomy and physiology comes from you paladins.”

“I’m fine,” Keith tells him but stops in the hallway. “Actually, you ever...see a rash like this?”

He pulls off his glove and show’s Coran the little purple mark. The Altean turns his hand over and eyes it closer. He doesn’t look concerned in the least which is a major relief to Keith. Maybe it’s truly nothing after all.

“It’s not a bruise?” Coran raises a brow.

“No, it itches,” he comments and puts the glove back on. “Must be an allergic reaction to something.”

“It’ll probably go away in couple days but if it doesn’t I recommend hopping into the ole healing pod for a once over. It’ll diagnose and clear it up for you,” Coran puts his hands on his hips. “I once broke out with a case of Cholferiak Hives on my--well that’s part’s not important. But I never went to see the medical officer because she’d know where I got it and that’s rather embarrassing. Eventually I snuck into a healing pod during the night to get it taken care of. I’ll tell you, I never attended another Cholferiak bridal shower after that and anytime someone sneezes I still get the willies.”

Keith simply nods despite the ambiguity of the story. It sounds like Coran just told him some kind of alien STD story but he’s not sure. He really doesn’t want to know the details anyway. Some questions are just better left unasked.

They arrive at the hanger as Lance’s lion lands. Keith waits with Coran at the door as Lance’s head pops out of the lion.

“Keith!” Lance shouts and climbs down the lion in record time, falling the last ten feet but landing safely on his feet before sprinting across the hanger. He slams right into Keith with a hug. “Dude! I’m glad you’re okay!”

“Y-Yeah, me too, except about you,” Keith tries to smile and look relaxed but having Coran there staring at them doesn’t help with the attempt.

Lance releases Keith and steps back one step before relaying everything that happened since the wormhole snafu. The mermaids. The mind controlled food. The monster. His new lion ability. And finally the rescue of an entire underwater civilization.

“I’m pretty much a hero. Oh, I took some video,” Lance adds as he takes his helmet off and taps the display. “There. It’s sent to your helmet. Totally check it out later. But man, is it good to be back or what? Oh hey, Coran. When did you get here? Where’s everyone else?”

Coran laughs and shakes his head. He explains to Lance the other’s whereabouts. He looks worried when Shiro’s injury is mentioned but that look fades when they assure him he’s in the pod and being taken care of by Allura. And since Lance looks like he’s none the worse for wear Coran’ll be returning to the medical bay to assist in anyway he can.

This leaves the two of them alone. Lance waits until the Altean is safely out of sight before grabbing Keith’s face and planting a big kiss on his lips. It’s a little forward but without an audience, Keith’s far more willing to kiss back. Lance’s fingers slide down his jawline and inch towards his hair making Keith pull back.

"What’s up?” Lance asks.

“Nothing, I uh…” Keith swallows. Did Lance touch the makeup? “Let’s take it somewhere else. Like Shiro suggested.”

“Mmm, right,” Lance agrees. “Good idea. Don’t want to make the others jealous.”

“You mean envious, but yeah.”

They walk down the halls. Lance talks about the merfolk again, animated and passionate. Any little thing that comes in his head to say, he says it. No detail is spared giving Keith a pretty good image of all that happened. It reminds Keith of the video he made, the one commending Lance’s forthrightness. He really does admire that part of Lance, if only he could be so open.

_Don’t wait._

Lance opens the door to their room and whistles with appreciation.

“Did you clean up?” Lance asks as he pulls off his gauntlets and tosses them onto the table.

“Yeah, I needed something to keep me busy,” Keith tells him as Lance kicks off his boots.

“Aww, you miss me?” Lance jokes with a sickly sweet voice.

Keith approaches and puts his hands on Lance’s chest-plate. Is that why he was so agitated? They were only away from each other for half a day. Is it possible that he missed him? Missed his voice. His smell. His taste.

_Don’t wait._

“I might have,” Keith leans in, getting a good whiff from Lance’s neck. Like salt water but the underlying scent of Lance lingers. It’s stronger than any other smell in the room. Lance smiles, watching Keith’s fingers tease at his armor, tugging it off.

“Really?”

Keith nods and removes the last of the armor. Lance is still covered in his marks, the largest ones the most obvious. It’s a pleasant sight to behold, fills him with pride. Keith runs his hands over the skin, gently caressing the bite marks. He wants nothing more than to just touch Lance, to feel his skin under his fingers and feel it respond in kind.

“Lay down,” Keith nods at the bed. “I’ll give you a massage.”

“Hmm, I could use one,” Lance nods in agreement, cracking his neck. “Can we make out afterwards?”

“Sure,” Keith nods.

Lance hops into the bed and gets comfortable as Keith dims the lights a little before joining him. He straddles over Lance’s body and sits on his ass. Lance grabs a fluffy pillow to rest his head on and lets out a sigh, ready to be pampered. He starts with the neck and squeezes rhythmically.

“Oh man,” Lance moans. “That’s great.”

Keith chuckles with a smirk. This position is perfect. No worries about Lance seeing the makeup on his neck or wiping it off by threading his fingers through his mullet. As much as he’d love that, he’d rather wait until the rash goes away than have to explain it. Not that he’d know what to say.

The shoulders next and Lance responds by dramatically sighing into the pillow. It feels too damn good. Keith presses and kneads and squeezes the muscles until Lance is melting into the mattress.

“If you stop, I’m filing for divorce,” Lance sighs.

Keith shimmies down a little for better access to Lance’s lower back. He can reach better and put more pressure this way. His thumbs rub in gentle circles and spread outward. Lance is losing all ability to form coherent sentences, his body nearly fully relaxed in Keith’s diligent hands. He contentedly hums and moans when Keith massages out a knot.

“This is almost better than a blowjob Keith,” he sighs. He hears Keith chuckle in response and adds, “I’m not kidding. This is...I might fall asleep.”

Well, he can’t have that.

Keith massages more but then leans down to rub his face against Lance, right between the shoulderblades. Lance tenses for only a second but then relaxes when Keith mouths his flesh. He does it again, this time grazing his teeth. How would Lance look with a matching set of bites on his back?

“Hey now, this doesn’t feel like a massage any more,” Lance comments.

“Want me to stop?” Keith asks.

“No, feels good,” Lance shakes his head. “Keep going.”

Keith sits up, crawls over Lance’s body, and noses at his neck. God he smells so good. Why is that? He takes a nice soft bite at his neck and Lance shivers. No marks there but Lance wouldn’t complain if he did. Keith takes a bite out of his shoulder and the resulting moan from Lance makes his cock twitch in response.

Hovering over Lance like this feels primal and dominating. He feels a compelling need to push his cock against something, to feel pressure on it. So put his hands over Lance’s, and while holding him down he presses his hardon against Lance’s ass and rubs slowly.

“K-Keith,” Lance sighs as Keith nudges himself squarely between ass cheeks.

“Sorry, I just...” Keith mumbles into his neck. “...want to feel you…”

“Do you w-want to--”

“Of course I do,” Keith interrupts, groaning at just the idea of pressing his cock into Lance. “We can’t.”

God, if he could he’d tear his clothes off and ram it in now. Nothing would please him more than to have Lance on his knees and sent over the edge while burying his cock inside him. To thrust into him while reaching around and pumping his cock. Why is he thinking like this? Before he was content with blowjobs and the occasional make out session...now he wants...so much more.

“Have you ever--?” Lance tries to ask.

“Yeah, but...you haven’t, have you?” Keith asks, tasting his neck and very nearly biting too hard on his shoulder. Lance shakes his head no, his face flushed from the combination of prolonged licks, bites on his back, and hard length rubbing against him.

He’d love nothing more than to fuck Lance here and now. The urge to do so is strong, stronger than it’s ever been, but he holds it back. There’s a lingering feeling deep in his stomach negative and hesitant.

He doesn’t want to hurt Lance. Biting someone is one thing. That kind of hurt is temporary and interspersed with sensual licks and kisses. But going in raw? That isn’t to say he hasn’t done it before but...he wouldn’t recommend it. Especially not for someone’s first time.

But there are other things they can do.

“Lance,” Keith sucks on his ear. “I could do something else. It’s not sex but...something close to it. Want to?”

Lance bites his lip nervously but nods his head.

“Lance, a nod’s not good enough,” Keith tells him.

“You’re gonna make me say it?” Lance rasps. “Y-Yeah, I’ll do it.”

“Get on your knees then,” Keith whispers, his voice husky.

Lance gets on his hands and knees while Keith positions himself behind him. His hands pull down Lance’s boxers until they’re around his knees. Keith has to smirk at the view. Never in his life did he think he’d ever get Lance to go willingly to his knees like this. Ass raised and trembling under his gripping fingers.

Keith’s hands spread his cheeks apart only slightly before he dives in tongue first. Lance makes a surprised squeak at first but it transforms into panting gasp. He moans and squirms as Keith tongues him, slathering him with saliva.

“K-Keith,” Lance moans, his pitch going high when Keith’s tongue spears him. “Keith--ah!--K-Keith!”

Keith licks and laves his tongue over Lance’s opening and his balls, stopping only momentarily to give Lance a big bite on his ass. The response to which is a shout that is just as pleasing to hear as his gasping moans from being rimmed. Keith undoes his pants and lowers them just enough to expose himself, ready to move on to the next part.

He presses his length along the cleft of Lance’s ass and slides it forward then back. Keith can’t help the moan that comes out of him. It’s been so long and this is the closest he’s come to fucking anyone in months. Lance seems to like it too from the mewling moan he gives as well.

“Lance,” Keith takes a deep breath, to steady himself. He takes Lance’s cheeks in his hands to increase the pressure around his cock and thrust. “Is this...do you like this?”

Lance can only moan in response which Keith takes to mean ‘yes’. It’s a far cry from actually penetrating but it’s better than doing nothing at all. And technically it's safer. So he slides this slick dick between Lance’s ass cheeks, rubbing against Lance’s very sensitive asshole all the while. Lance pants and clenches his fists, dangerously close to screaming.

He likes the view from here as he thrusts. Lance’s back muscles tense from holding himself up for so long, his arms shaking and ready to collapse under him. If he did it would only put his ass further into the air--what a tempting sight that would be. He releases one cheek to reach down to gauge how hard Lance is and finds his tip just dripping with precome. It’s a sticky thread touching the sheets and creating a little salty pool.

Keith can feel himself grinning. All this from a little rimming and rubbing? Who knew Lance’s asshole was so sensitive? It’s information he files away for later, excited to try on Lance again but for now...Keith bites at his bottom lip as he continues to thrust. His cock feels heavy and hot, leaking precome in a little river.

They’re both fit to burst.

“Lance,” Keith groans. “Touch yourself. I need to hold on to you if I want to finish.”

Lance nods. One of his arm buckles down so that his elbow braces the bed, bringing his ass a little higher much to Keith’s pleasure. He knows the moment Lance gets a hold of himself; he stops moaning and pants in whimpering gasps. He strokes in sync with each of Keith’s thrusts, breathing fast.

“P-Please,” Lance stutters. “God, this is…”

Keith looks down to see Lance has tilted his head and laid it against the pillow. He gets a good look at his flushed face as he whimpers and shakes with need. Lance can’t keep his mouth closed as Keith rubs his cock against him and is practically drooling into that pillow as he begs. Lance is actually begging him to stick it in him. To do it. Please.

God, now he _really_ wants to fuck him.

Instead, Keith wets his thumb liberally with as much spit as he can and presses it an inch into his quivering asshole. Not wanting to do too much, Keith barely pushes it in and out, barely a centimeter in either direction. It’s more than enough for Lance. Lance bites the pillow with a wailing moan and comes all over the sheets. Keith closes his eyes, envisions fucking Lance into the mattress, and rolls his hips until he can’t hold it in any longer, spilling his come to drip down the incline of Lance’s back.

Lance heaves and pants and his breath hitches when Keith takes his thumb out of him. The sheets are ruined so Keith feels no remorse in pulling them from the bed to clean up their mess. Probably need to wash them soon anyway. He wipes up Lance’s back and when finished he tosses the sheets into a pile on the floor.

“That was...” Lance gives a breathy laugh as Keith helps him up from the bed.

“Fun?” Keith smirks as he pulls up his pants. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Wow, ego much?” Lance laughs and pulls up his own boxers. “But yeah, very fun. Don’t get me wrong but why? You seemed pretty content to just blow me before...why’d you up the ante?”

“I uh...I dunno,” Keith looks away and scratches his neck, perfectly aware of why he did it.

He didn’t want to wait to show Lance some affection. Didn’t want it to ever be too late. If he can’t say it, then the least he can do is show it through his actions. Wants Lance to know that he lo-

“Cause it felt like...it felt more important. But I look too deep into everything so maybe that’s just me though,” Lance shrugs, trying to dismiss the feeling. After all, Keith’s made it very clear that what they’re doing isn’t that involved.

So what Keith says next catches him off guard.

“It’s not just you.”

Lance’s eyes go wide at the statement. It wasn’t his imagination then. The tender touches before the massage, the slow gentle kisses at his neck, those heady sighs. They were special...just for Lance.

Lance could pry, he could ask for further confirmation, but Keith looks just as shocked at his own forthrightness. It’s the closest Keith’s come to admitting that he feels there’s more than just something physical between them. Lance watches as Keith forces his hand away from his neck and into his pockets.

He’s embarrassed. Best not to push it.

“Then we should do it again sometime,” Lance smiles softly.

“Maybe later. You should shower,” Keith comments, glad to change the subject. “You smell a little like low tide.”

“Seriously? You’re telling me now?! We did all that when I stunk to high heaven?!” Lance exclaims, his face turning red with shame. “You ate my--If I knew I was gross I’d have said no-”

“I don’t care what you smell like, but the others might. And Pidge isn't known for her tact, she will definitely say something about it,” Keith points. “Your clothes are on the table.”

Lance thanks him, grabs the pile, and hurries for the bathroom. He lingers in the door a moment and asks if Keith’s gonna join him. Not today, he lies and says he’s already showered. Lance hums a ‘your loss’ before closing the bathroom door. Keith hears him begin singing as he scrubs away.

He stands outside the door and listens to him. Lance is so flexible. Nothing ever seems to bother him for long and when it does he just adjusts accordingly. How would he react to Keith being Galra? Would he take it in stride? Or would that be just a little too much to deal with, even for Lance.

He’s not sure. He eyes his helmet with uncertainty. Until he is sure, it’s better to get ahold of his emotions and keep passionate declarations to himself.

Real quick he washes his hands in the sink before Lance can poke his head out to look at him. He shoves on his gloves again before he returns to the table and fishes around in Lance’s jacket. Eventually, he grasps the hand mirror inside. He flips it open and maneuvers it until he can eye his neck. Concealers doing fine, nothing out of place from when he scratched earlier.

Maybe it’ll go away like Coran said and he won’t have to keep hiding it but deep down he has a feeling it won’t. Just like this feverish warm feeling he keeps experiencing, these brief aching pains behind his eyes, and his appetite which is now telling him to eat again.

Is it a stage in Galra development? How come he’s never felt like this before leaving earth? Did he catch something from the MANY planets and aliens they’ve come in contact with? Maybe that magic attack from that sorcerer? Or was it the quintessence? How far will it spread? Can it be stopped?

With a sigh he snaps the mirror closed and puts it back in Lance’s pocket. More questions again. Just when he finds one answer, a dozen more pop up before he can make sense of it.

“Holy crap! You bit my--OW!--How am I going to sit when we eat?!” Lance shouts from the bathroom.

Keith smirks and shakes his head. Lance, always bringing everything into perspective by asking the **_really_ ** important questions. He can’t help but chuckle despite the avalanche of stress he's under. If Lance thinks that’s bad wait till they actually fuck.

If Keith has anything to say about it, he won’t walk straight for a week.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 16, 2017

Keith’s being weird again, Lance notices.

It’s not that he’s being distant because he certainly keeps closer to Lance than he’s ever been. When the team talks together Keith stands next to Lance, with only a step or two between them. Or he stands behind the couch Lance sits at, leaning against it nonchalantly. And at meals he continues to sit across from Lance. He’s even initiated a game of footsies underneath the table while eating. So there hasn’t been any physical distance put between them after that almost-romp in their room.

No, it’s something else.

He keeps disappearing every once in awhile. Frequent trips to the kitchen for snacks between meals. Going to the bathroom half a dozen times a day to ‘fix his hair’.

One day, he sees him chatting with Coran about something but they go silent when Lance approaches. Keith claims they were talking about Altean culture but he can’t meet Lance’s eyes. He’s lying about something but Lance can’t fathom what.

What is it that he feels he needs to lie about?

Later he catches Coran discreetly handing off a bottle of something to Keith, which the red paladin pockets quickly and goes about his way. This is getting ridiculous. Lance waits until Keith turns the corner and strides right up to Coran with a knowing look.

“What’s going on Coran?” he asks, squinting with suspicion.

The Altean tries to hide the small shock of Lance coming out of nowhere.

“Ah, Lance! Having a good day?” he asks feigning ignorance, eyes looking to the side.

“What did you give to Keith?” Lance probes. “Spill it.”

“It’s nothing really! Just a little something he asked for,” Coran twists his mustache. “I’m not certain why he’s so self-conscious about it…half the people on the ship use it.”

“Coran,” Lance warns. Normally he has the patience of a saint, but he doesn’t like the way he’s avoiding the question. And he’s tired of secrets. Maybe it’s something Keith finds embarrassing? Lance blinks with a sudden thought. “It’s not...it’s not...lube...is it?”

“What? No, no,” Coran shakes his head with a laugh. “Don’t have anything like that on this ship. Ah, paladins.”

Then what was it? What else goes in little bottles?

“Is it medicine? Is Keith sick?” Lance asks, his annoyance replaced with worry.

“No, no! Good grief, he should have just told you,” Coran shakes his head and rubs his temple. “It’s just foundation I mixed up for him. He wanted some in his tone, ‘for a few blemishes’ he said. Maybe he’s embarrassed to let other’s know he’s using it.”

“I wear that stuff, Coran,” Lance deadpans.

“Ah, but you’re used to that sort of thing. I think this is a first for young Keith,” Coran waggles his finger. “Perhaps he wants to cover up a few pimples to look nice. Like you do.”

First of all, Lance doesn’t cover up pimples because he never lets his face get them. So to imply he covers them up is insulting. Second of all, it’s not a bad thing that Keith is starting to care about his appearance. Is Keith practicing in secret? Is that why he keeps disappearing, to check on it?

“He can’t very well use yours, now can he?” Coran chuckles.

“Guess not,” Lance agrees, his suspicions fading.

Wish he’d just said as much though, instead of acting like it was some dirty secret to be embarrassed about. It’s not like Lance would make fun of him. Or maybe that’s exactly what he thought Lance would do. He remembers the discovery of Keith’s inability to swim with shame. He really laughed at him for not knowing how to do something that’s so basic to him...yikes.

“Thanks, Coran,” Lance sighs. “Sorry for, you know...”

“Ah, it’s fine Lance. Though, perhaps you shouldn’t let on that you know?” Coran explains, twisting his mustache and looking up. “I get the feeling he’s stressed about it enough. Stress leads to pimples...and early wrinkles! Not that I would know! I’m as spry as a young Unilu on shore leave!”

“Yeah, okay,” Lance rolls his eyes with a smile.

Does he think he’s fooling anyone with his claims of youth? Coran bids him good day and strides off in an exaggerated energetic fashion towards the cargo bay, almost dancing with each step. Guess so.

“Stressed out huh?” Lance hums contemplatively, holding his chin.

An idea hits him and he breaks out into a grin.

*****

Keith stands in front of the mirror back in his room. The place is empty with the exception of the blanket on his bed and a towel in the shower. And now his new foundation on the counter.

It’s working great. Better than he could have hoped and not a moment too soon. The blotch of purple under his bangs is starting to spread a little, a centimeter away from reaching his eyebrow. He wasn’t going to be able to hide it much longer with his hair.

A thin layer is all he needs and Coran assured him it's long lasting. He spreads a little along his neckline too. Lately, he’s been pulling his jacket in close around his collar to hide it. Making sure the combination jacket and mullet hair kept it hidden as Lance’s own foundation wasn’t going to be an option much longer. He needs too much for it to be inconspicuous now.

It's an ordeal trying to keep it hidden from the team, and especially Lance with how much time they spend together. Sleeping in total darkness. Getting up early to shower and cover up before Lance can even blink awake. Checking frequently in any reflective surface he can to make sure it hasn’t spread in the last hour. It’s exhausting and that’s not including the other myriad of symptoms he’s feeling.

His hunger has reached new heights. He can’t seem to go an hour without snacking on something, anything. No one’s said anything about it but he’s been careful in how he approaches getting food. Goes into the kitchen when no one’s there and snatching only a few things to nibble on throughout the day and putting them in his now unused room for snack breaks.

Dizzy spells pop up every once in awhile but luckily he’s been better about bracing himself on things. Leans on walls or sits down when he thinks one might be coming. Sometimes he’s warm all of a sudden but when he checks his temperature it’s normal. Ugh, and the smells! Already he can smell more than he wants. The entire team has distinct scents of their own he wishes he wasn’t able to recognize from across the room.

He’s also been jittery. Usually, an hour or two on the training deck is enough to get all the pent up energy out. But now he’s going for a total of four hours, sometimes more. The others don’t seem to find it altogether strange, they just shake their heads and say things like ‘that’s Keith for you’. If that’s what they believe, he makes no attempt to correct them, to let them know that it’s not normal for him.

God, can anything be considered normal anymore?

He wonders when it will end. Will he be solid purple in a month? Will he grow claws and fangs? What about a tail? He hopes not but what about...yellow eyes? He’d never be able to hide those. It’s not like there’s a contact store in SPACE. Suppose he could wear sunglasses but he’s not sure he can get a pair of those either. Maybe Lance has a pair hiding in all his junk.

“What will they do...” Keith asks his reflection. “...when they see I’ve become?”

That scares him in a way he hasn’t been scared in a while. He finally has a family and he’s willing to call them that. Finally has a place where he feels wanted and doesn’t feel alone anymore. Could he go back to being on his own again? Back to living in solitude? In loneliness?

He slams his fists on the counter in frustration to combat the despair creeping in.

“I don’t want to…” Keith tells himself.

If he has to hide it the rest of his life, has to secretly eat five square meals a day and exercise himself into tiring himself out, if he has to wear his helmet 24/7 to hide his eyes; he’ll do it. They can’t know. Ever. He can’t go back to being alone again. To being abandoned again. To having nothing.

“I just...I can’t,” he shakes his head as his eyes water.

He wipes the tears away with his sleeve, not willing to show anyone that face even if it's only his reflection. After a quick double check on his covered areas, his neck, forehead, and hand, he pockets the foundation again. He snatches a fruit from the table, chows it down in no time flat, and then tosses the remains into the waste bin before leaving his room.

*****

Lance is being...Keith settles on the word ‘suspicious’.

Talking to Allura about something but then suddenly quiet when Keith approaches. Then chatting with Hunk about something. Hunk chuckles, nods his head and gives Lance a confirming wink. Pidge won’t say anything but she keeps giving him this knowing grin, like she’s fully aware of the situation in its entirety and will take the knowledge to her grave.

While he’s curious, very curious even, Keith’s not willing to debase himself into begging for the information. Whatever Lance is planning...can’t be good, he’s sure, but it’ll hardly be dangerous. He hopes.

Keith smells him long before he arrives. Lance comes sidling up to him with a smile on his face. Playing it cool before sliding into the couch and putting an arm around his shoulder.

“So...I have something for you,” Lance mentions while looking at his nails. Pretending like his cuticles are more interesting than the conversation.

“That so?” Keith huffs as he turns the page in his book.

“Yeah, but if you want it...you have to wear this,” Lance says pulling a length of cloth out of his pocket.

“A blindfold?” Keith raises a brow suspiciously.

“Yep,” Lance nods. “And you gotta let me guide you.”

“Trust you with my safety?” asks Keith. “Talk about the blind leading the blind…”

“I promise I won’t let you crash into anything...more than twice,” says Lance and he wiggles the blue cloth. “Pretty please?”

He eyes the blindfold and Lance’s puppy eyes. With a sigh, he puts the book in his inside pocket before taking the fabric in his hands.

“If you push me into a wall and I break my nose, I’ll never suck your dick again. We clear?” Keith comments as he ties it in place.

“To be clear, if I push you into a wall and you DON’T break your nose--” Lance starts.

“Lance,” Keith warns. Already he’s not in the best place to deal with Lance’s humor. Being blind feels vulnerable enough without someone joking about his well-being.

“Relax, I’m not going to push you into anything,” Lance rolls his eyes.

Lance’s hands take his and pull him up from the common room couch before perching on Keith’s shoulders. With tentative steps, Keith follows Lance’s guidance. Sometimes he turns him around and then turns him again, trying to disorient him. It doesn’t work, mostly because he can smell where they are regardless of the blindfold.

Passing the kitchen.

“Where are we going, Lance?” Keith asks.

“Not telling, it’s a surprise,” Lance giggles deviously.

All the talking with the rest of the team strikes Keith suddenly. This isn’t a surprise party, is it? Why would they? His birthday isn’t for another...well, it’s not for a while he’s pretty sure. They gotta know he’s not one for parties.

Lance turns them again and they walk into a cargo bay. From their previous locations, he gathers its the Blue Lion bay. Where in the world is Lance taking him? He hears the lion move, lowering its head to the ground.

“Step up,” Lance instructs.

He does so with his hands out, ready to catch himself if the lion moves suddenly but it waits until they’re in the cockpit before standing up. Lance guides him to the pilot's seat and pulls him into his lap before taking the controls. Are they leaving the ship?

“Lance-”

“Shush! You’ll see soon enough,” Lance whispers into his ear and pecks a kiss on his neck.

Lance taking charge like this...it reminds him of the time they made out at the lake on Arus. That seems like eons ago. Lance took the initiative and pushed him down, started kissing him even though it was all new to him. He’d had no idea what he was doing and now...Lance nuzzles into his hair with a sigh and shifts his pelvis. Barely enough to be intentionally illicit and certainly enough to arouse Keith’s imagination.

He’s never worn a blindfold before…

The cabin shakes and wakes him from that thought. They’re hitting the atmosphere of a planet. Is Lance taking him to some random planet? At this point, he’s stopped asking. Lance isn’t telling but he’s practically vibrating with excitement. When the lion lands and lowers it’s face to the ground Lance guides him again, this time taking his hands and pulling him slowly towards the cockpit exit.

When the doors open Keith immediately smells...salt. And he hears waves. The ocean?

“And for the big reveal!” Lance announces and unties the blindfold.

Everything’s blurry for a second and the blinding light takes some adjusting to but when everything finally clears he sees Lance gesturing like he’s Vana White at the ocean.

And is it beautiful.

A small beach he thinks at first but then sees the reefs closing in the small body of water. A calm lagoon. The water looks to be more green than blue like he’s used to seeing in magazines. The sand is exactly how he pictured, however, beige and fine grained. And it’s all surrounded by tall swaying beach trees with odd colored fruits hanging heavy from the fronds.

Why did Lance--

“You looked like you needed a break,” Lance answers his questioning glance. “Asked Allura if we could be spared for a couple hours. She agreed to it, said we could use the vacation while Shiro heals in the med bay. Hunk made us some food, it’s inside. And Pidge...well, that surprise is for later. I got you a change of clothes in the lion too.”

“Lance,” Keith couldn’t believe the lengths he went.

“Oh and as a present for myself, I chose the beach,” Lance grins with a wink. “I’m not entirely selfless, you know.”

“How’d you find this place?” Keith asks, taking off his boots. As soon as they were off he shoves his toes in the warm sand. Feels good.

“Swirn told me about it when Hunk and I were here,” he tells him while pulling off his shirt. His pants hit the ground in two seconds flat. “Lots of shade, water’s not too deep, and it’s pretty safe. Great place to learn how to swim.”

Keith’s eyes get a smidge wider. Swim? Lance wants him to swim? Right now? He wonders if the makeup is made for withstanding the ocean. Coran assured him that it's long lasting...does that mean it's waterproof too?

“Uh…” Keith swallows. A new fear of the water replacing his old one.

“Just go get your feet wet for now,” Lance stretches at the shoreline. “I’m gonna warm up with a couple laps.”

With that Lance runs full tilt into the water with a big whoop and diving under once it reaches his thighs. When he breaches the surface again a moment later he lets out a huge laugh while Keith lets out a sigh of relief. Not that he should worry. Lance can swim, it’s not like he’ll need Keith to rescue him.

Keith swallows and steps into the water. While Lance is diving Keith kneels down and scoops some water up. He pours it onto the back of his hand and watches intently. After a couple more splashes he comes to realize it's not coming off without soap. Keith releases another breath he’d been holding. He gives it a rub or two to test it further and it looks good.

“Ready?” Lance steps up the beach, dripping wet and tilting his head to get the water out of his ears.

“Uh, yeah. I guess,” Keith swallows, looking up at him. He keeps forgetting how water brings out the best in Lance. Freckled with little drops, sun catching his hair, great beaming smile.

Lance offers a hand and Keith takes it to bring himself to his feet. He doesn’t let go and Keith is pulled slowly, one step at a time, into the water. It’s daunting and Keith hopes it doesn’t show on his face.

“Alright, so the way I learned to swim is not the way I’m gonna teach you,” Lance starts. “I was thrown off a boat dock when I was five and told there were sharks in the water. I never got out of a ocean so fast but I learned how to swim. So there’s that.”

“Really?” Keith asks, his eyes checking their depth regularly.

“Nah, I was just trying to lighten the mood so you wouldn’t be so nervous. Did it work?” Lance chuckles.

“Not really,” Keith swallows. He appreciates the sentiment though.

When the water gets to his hips Lance stops. The water laps very gently against their bodies, the reef preventing anything stronger than ripples. Keith has to admit, he’s thankful there aren’t any real waves to unsettle him more than he already is.

“First, do you know how to blow bubbles underwater?” Lance asks.

“I try not to put my face under any water unless it’s in a shower,” Keith answers plainly.

“So that’s a ‘no’. Okay, we’ll start there then,” Lance smiles.

Lance spends the next five minutes explaining how important it is to learn about airflow. How to take breaths and blow air out. It’s easier for some to blow bubbles out their noses than their mouth but it’s really a matter of preference. The most important thing though is to only take air in through the mouth. He asks Keith to try it without water for now.

He feels stupid puffing his cheeks and blowing out air with Lance watching him. Breathe in through the mouth and out. Eventually, Lance suggests he try bending his knees and putting his face in the water while he’s blowing out the bubbles. Then to come up for air when he’s out.

His hesitance must be obvious as he looks uneasily at the water.

“You can do it,” Lance encourages with a nod.

Keith swallows, takes a deep breath and dunks his head into the water. It takes a second but he begins blowing bubbles out his mouth. It’s not so bad. He’s not drowning so that’s a plus. When he runs out of air he comes up to take a deep breath.

“See? Great job,” Lance pats his shoulder. “Now do that fifteen more times and we’ll do the the next part.”

While Keith practices a little Lance dives around him to find seashells and pocket any cool pieces of coral he can find. He’s always been fascinated by ocean life, has a whole shelf back home with jars full of shells and sand from different beaches around the world. Adding a new jar of a beach from another planet would only improve his collection.

After Keith finishes a few more breaths Lance moves on to the next step.

“So, now you can hold your breath underwater. That’ll help if you end up diving or sinking. Here, hold my hands,” Lance puts them out and Keith grabs them tighter than he’d like. “Relax, I’m not going to let you drown.”

Keith nods but barely loosens his hold. Lance pulls him a little deeper and Keith’s toes instinctively grab for purchase in the sand, anything to give him a feeling of solid footing.

“I know you can reach the bottom but try to let your legs stick out behind you so that you’re not touching the sand. Good, yeah. Awesome,” Lance smiles. “Now I’m going to pull you while you kick. This will get you used to the buoyancy. Try to keep your head above water for now, but if you feel like you’re sinking just use the bubble blowing thing we did and you’ll be good.”

For ten minutes Lance pulls him around as he kicks. He feels like a little kid. And he keeps waiting for Lance to laugh at his floundering but he doesn’t. And the one time he ends up with a little seawater in his nose they stop for a moment to let him sputter out the water. No laugh, just a reminder to use his bubbles.

“Ready to relax for a bit?” Lance asks.

“Are we going to do that on the beach?” Keith asks, ready to get out of the water for a while.

“Not yet,” Lance shakes his head and puts his hands on Keith’s shoulders. “Turn around and lean back--”

“Lance! I--” Keith panics.

“Don’t worry,” Lance assures him. “I got you. You’re just going to float. Take a deep breath and just lean back.”

Keith takes a shaky breath and does as he’s told. He leans back, eyes pinched shut, while Lance’s hands lift him toward the surface. This is how he dies. He’s going to sink. He’s going to sink and drown and no manner of CPR will save him. He’s...floating?

“Great! You can kick your feet gently and direct yourself in different directions with your arms. Just remember to cup your hands, kinda like ice cream scoops, to get more force. Man, now I want ice cream,” Lance whines.

It gives him a view of the sky that feels familiar and calming. Like those nights he laid out in the desert to stare at the stars. Instead of stars, he sees a blue sky with pink-tinted clouds floating by. Lance is right, it’s very relaxing. And nostalgic.

“I used to do this all the time back home,” Lance admits. “Just float around. No cares. No worries. I’d get the worst sunburn too. Too bad we’ll head back before sunset, bet it’s nice.”

“Yeah,” Keith nods.

“Did you notice something?” Lance asks and then chuckles. He wiggles his fingers in front of Keith’s eyes.

He’s floating without help. Keith can hardly believe it. He’d laugh but he doesn’t want to end up sinking himself. Then he’d really feel like an idiot. Instead, he smiles proudly and takes a deep breath.

“You’re a fast learner.”

Lance lays back with a sigh and floats next to him. They’re heads barely bump together before settling next to each other. They stay like that for a while, staring up at the sky, listening to the ocean. Lance hums his melody while Keith just listens.

He really did need this. With all that’s been going on, he was going to lose his mind if he didn’t get the chance to just not think for a while. His tension just melts away into the ocean with every breath. Then his stomach interrupts by growling loudly.

“Hungry?” Lance asks, standing up.

“Starving,” Keith admits and stands too, the water coming up to his collarbones. When did they float to the deeper waters?

They wade their way back to the beach and into the shade. Lance drips all the way into the lion and comes back with a big box in his arms. They sit on the blue lion’s paw and open the packed lunch.

There’s plenty to eat. Half a dozen sandwiches of alien origin. Drink canisters with a fizzy orange flavored drink. Something that looks like chips but tastes like popcorn. Hunk and his food experiments. He really outdid himself. It all tastes amazing.

“Sorry I couldn’t get any Snickers,” Lance sighs as he takes a bite out of his second sandwich. “Seems those are exclusive to Earth.”

He remembers with sudden clarity that this was one of those things they talked about missing. Keith said he missed movie theatre food. Popcorn. Soda. Candy bars. He smiles but then his face loses all humor when a question pops up in his head.

Is this a date?

Keith flushes and turns to look at Lance but he’s busy staring at the ocean, drinking his beverage and enjoying the sea breeze. Could be but...how would he know? He’s never been on one in his life.

How embarrassing. Played tonsil hockey with over a dozen guys. Had at least five one night stands and two regular lays while at the garrison. Knows how to give a killer blowjob. But he doesn’t know if this is a date? He’s seen movies but--

“Hey, wanna build a sandcastle?” Lance brightens at the idea. “I haven’t built one since I was a kid.”

“Uh…”

“Or I could just bury you in the sand,” Lance suggests then chuckles under his breath. “Keith, sand guardian. Guardian of the sand. Zarkon quivers before him!”

Keith snorts without meaning to but shakes his head. He’d rather stay out of the sun for a bit. He already feels a little toasted. Maybe he’ll take a nap in the shade or just read his book.

“Oh! Wait, if you’re gonna do that,” Lance raises his hands and tells him to wait there as he rushes inside the lion. When he comes back out he tosses something into Keith’s lap.

“What’s this?”

It looks like a standard holo-screen. He taps it and it flashes on. Looks like an electronic book. He swipes the screen to familiar pages. Scans of his book. White Fang.

“Don’t know how long we’re going to be in space and who knows if your book is going to make it that long with how often you crack it open. Thing’s falling apart at the seams. I had Pidge do a scan of all the pages and download them to that,” Lance beams proudly. “My idea. Go ahead tap that little blue button there.”

Keith taps the button and Lance’s voice reads the book out loud page by page. Sounds like he took it pretty serious and it’s actually soothing. How thoughtful. Keith blinks with another startling realization, that this is a present from Lance and he turns bright red. He tries to hide it with little success.

Dear god it really is a date. Complete with romantic personal gifts.

Lance stares as Keith blushes behind the poor cover of the holo-screen. He likes it then. Just knowing warms Lance’s heart.

“Thanks,” he mumbles. “It’s great, Lance.”

Lance gives him a bow for a deed well done and excuses himself. There’s a pile of sand with his name on it. He runs out and plops himself in the sun at the edge of the shade to get to work. Keith stays where he is, in the shade, and working on the last of the sandwiches and chips. He flips through the electronic copy of White Fang with a barely contained look of elation on his face.

As the hour passes Keith looks up periodically to gauge the progress of the sand castle. Or ‘the Voltron of sand castles’ as Lance puts it. At first, it isn’t much, as it is with most projects, but every few minutes when he glances past the screen he sees it getting taller, wider, and more detailed. Before long it really is a sandcastle befitting its name. How did he do this without a bucket?

“Impressive,” Keith calls out.

“I know right?” Lance nods, very proud of his work. “Done reading? Want to swim some more?”

He doesn’t really want to swim more. While it hasn’t quite tired him out he’s had enough of the water for one day. Keith shakes his head and Lance looks somewhat disappointed. They've swum and eaten, what else did Lance say he missed about the beach?

“We could race instead,” Keith suggests as he stands and stretches.

Lance perks up at the word ‘race’.

“From here to...that rock over there,” Keith points. “The rounded off one with two trees next to it.”

Lance looks over, shielding his eyes from the sun. He seems to be calculating the distance. Judging how much energy he’s going to need to trounce Keith. It’s pretty far but his legs are long. And he loves to run. Once done he looks over at Keith with a nod, ready to accept the challenge.

“You’re on,” Lance defiantly stares.

They set up the starting place by digging a line with Lance’s heel. They get into position and Lance does a mock announcer voice, complete with cheering crowd noises.

“The challenger, none other than the hot-headed Red Paladin of Voltron. New to this track and brimming with energy, Keith is the most handsome challenger to face against the current champion but will his devilishly good looks help him here? Listen to that crowd,” Lance declares to the nearby trees and some kind of tropical bird. He even imitates a cheering crowd with interspersed boos.

“Lance,” Keith snorts and shakes his head.

“And here comes the returning champion. The marathon-medal winner! The Super Sprinter! None other than the charming pilot of the Blue Lion of Voltron--Lance! Oh, the crowd is losing their minds, women and men alike are trying to storm the barricades in the hopes of getting to see his smile,” Lance mimics the announcer and then switches to himself. “Please, ladies, gentlemen. I’m only perfect. There’s enough victory to go around. You, sir, see me after the race for something special.”

Keith can’t not laugh at him.

“Oh, the champion is weakened by the challenger’s delightful laugh, hopefully it doesn’t dull his competitive spirit!” Lance winks at him and Keith shakes his head with another chuckle. “A hush rolls over the crowd as the men take their positions. Racers on your mark! Get set--GO!”

They take off, sprinting down the beach as fast as they can go. Keith lags behind a few steps as per usual. Lance’s long legs afford him a good head start. But there’s a reason Keith chose that rock. It’s far and he has the stamina for the run especially with the four-hour long training sessions he’s been doing. He’s not about to lose this time.

Lance looks over his shoulder expecting to see a slightly annoyed but hyper focused Keith behind him. Keith is behind him but looking anything but annoyed. A cocky smirk on his face as he keeps his speed steady. As they approach the halfway mark he sees Keith gaining on him in the corner of his eye.

“What the--” Lance blurts and tries to go faster.

They keep even for a few seconds but then Lance’s legs start to tire out. If he hadn’t swum so much earlier, before teaching Keith, maybe he could have--Keith takes the lead by a good yard. Then two. He can’t win anymore, he’s too spent from the burst at the beginning. Keith is leaning on the rock when he arrives, panting hard but smiling victoriously.

“And the challenger...wins...the crowd goes...wild,” Lance pants, wiping the sweat from his brow. He takes a few steps into the water and splashes his face. “The champion, humbled by his loss can only offer a congratulatory handshake to the winner.”

“Only a handshake?” Keith pants back and runs his fingers through his hair. He takes the handshake though and scoots over so Lance has room.

“I’d kiss you but I can’t breathe,” Lance offers and sits on the rock in the shade. “Give me a minute. Phew.”

Is this the part of the date where the two kids make out furiously on the beach? Sounds messy and not in a fun way Keith concludes while thinking about sand in his shorts and mouth. Ouch and also, yuck.

“I think our time’s almost up,” Lance announces once he’s caught his breath. “We should head back soon. It’s been, like, four vargas.”

How disappointing. Feels like they just started and already they have to head back? No use moping about it. Can’t stay on vacation forever. Keith pushes off the rock with a resigned sigh and starts walking. But Lance is standing stock still, knees bent.

“What are you doing?” Keith asks.

“You won,” Lance states and then clarifies when Keith gives him another questioning glance. “You get a victory piggy back ride.”

Keith snorts and shakes his head.

“It may not be dignified but never let it be said that I’m not a man of my word,” Lance points.

Keith rolls his eyes but...why not? He did earn his win. Making Lance into a pack mule for a ten-minute walk is just icing on the cake. Man, and now he’s hungry again for cake. Dammit.

“Fine,” Keith sighs and wraps his arms around Lance’s shoulders.

Lance stands and grabs Keith’s legs as he hops up. Once he’s properly hooked his arms under Keith’s legs he shrugs until comfortable. He’s about as heavy as he looks. This may not be as easy as shuttling his nephews up and down the beach but he’ll manage. Probably.

“You got it former-champ? Or should I walk?” Keith comments as Lance takes the first of a few wobbly steps.

“I’m fine,” Lance huffs. “Just don’t wiggle too much.”

Lance hums as he walks them down the beach, his feet dipping in the cool edge of the water, leaving indents in the sand. Keith lets out a sigh and presses his face against Lance’s back and enjoys the ride.

This was nice actually. Shame it didn’t last long.

How often will they get opportunities to do this again?

Between his strange transformation and the battle with Zarkon...he can’t see this being a possibility again. Even so, he’s grateful for it. Nothing will ever replace it as one of the best memories he has. He’ll forever remember the smell of this ocean, the taste of popcorn chips, and the feel of Lance’s hands as they supported him in the salty waters of an alien lagoon.

“Did you have fun?” Lance asks over his shoulder. “Keith?”

He nods and tightens his hold. “Yeah, thanks. This was...great.”

“Keith, are you crying?” Lance stops but doesn’t put Keith down. Keith shakes his head against Lance’s back but there’s no mistaking the warm drips down his shoulder blades.

“This is...the best date I’ve ever been on,” Keith admits.

Lance blinks with surprise. How long has Keith known it was a date? He was happy enough thinking it would be Keith’s first date but ‘the best’? He blushes at the compliment.

“I thought you didn’t date. Wouldn’t this be the only date you’ve ever been on?” Lance smiles and starts walking again.

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t the best,” Keith swallows and clears his throat, trying to regain a modicum of composure. “I’ll get you for this.”

“I look forward to your retribution,” Lance laughs. “But you know, date’s not over yet.”

“Seriously?” Keith wipes his face on Lance’s back with an exasperated laugh. “There’s more?”

“Nah, this is it but dude you sounded so hopeful,” Lance snickers. “Didn’t know you could sound so interested in ‘romantic gestures’.”

“You’re an ass,” Keith rolls his eyes and wiggles in Lance’s hold.

“Stop! I’ll trip!” Lance objects with a laugh, trying to regain his hold.

“Yeah?” Keith asks and shifts more to make Lance lose his balance.

“Keith, I--AH!” Lance shouts as he collapses to the ground.

They fall together into no more than six inches of water. Lance sprawled out with Keith over him. Some mild annoyance plays on Lance’s face but it dissipates the closer Keith’s face gets to his.

Before Keith wasn’t sure if he wanted to make out on the beach but he’s changed his mind. Lance loves the beach. He chose it so it would be special to both of them and now he loves it too. If Keith isn’t going to forget a moment there, neither is Lance. He wants it so that from this day forward, anytime Lance is on a beach he’ll think about Keith.

He owes him a wonderful memory like that.

Keith has kissed tons of dudes. All of them eager and hungry battles of tongue and teeth. Horny kisses that usually led to a night of raucous, non-committed sex. Fast and less than sincere in hidden away places where none could interrupt.

But this time…

Lance has never felt such a passionate kiss from Keith before. It has all of the usual elements, tongue massaging tongue, teeth nibbling at Lance’s lips, but there’s something more. Like Keith is trying to suck the air out of him, like he’s relishing in the taste of his breath, and returning it with each and every kiss.

He’s had dreams like this involving mermaids but now they’re all going to look like Keith.

Lance brings a hand up to palm the back of Keith’s head, threading his fingers in and pulling him closer with slow heated kisses of his own. Keith tastes like the ocean. Lance doesn’t stop kissing him even when the salty taste disappears, replaced with a warm sweet flavor. Now his fingers trace down Keith’s jawline, stopping to cup his cheek tenderly.

Keith leans into the hand and touches it with his own. He turns it to kiss his thumb, his palm, his inner wrist. His hand takes Lance's and presses it down and into the sand, their fingers intertwining with granules of the beach between them. Lance’s eyes flutter open to focus on Keith’s face.

He looks so happy.

“Keith,” Lance starts and looks up in awe of him. Immediately Keith knows the exact words he's about to say. “I lo--”

Keith in sudden panic quickly puts a hand over Lance's mouth. He can't. He can't hear this. Not right now. Lance looks at him with confusion.

“Don't,” Keith shakes his head, his cheeks flushed crimson.

Keith isn't sure which he feels more, flattered or envious of Lance’s gall. Damn him for being so open and saying everything he thinks when he thinks it. He needs a filter!

Lance can't say those words if he's not ready to say them back. As much as Keith doesn't want to wait, as much as he wants to take Shiro's advice, he's still too afraid of what the future will bring. He doesn't want Lance giving away a part of himself if he can't guarantee the same. What if everything changes after Zarkon? What if Lance meets someone else in their travels? Meets someone better?

Damn it all, just the thought hurts and now he can’t help but think about all the possibilities of how this could all go wrong. He wants everything to stay like this. Wants time to stop so he doesn’t have to move forward from now. Then maybe he could...he could say it too and no one would get hurt.

God, the moment was so good until this. Lance's eyes shoot down to the hand covering his mouth with a questioning glance and Keith shakes his head in response.

“You can't say that,” Keith tells him, his jaw tight. “Not now.”

Lance doesn't understand but he nods his head anyway. He can't figure out why saying it would set Keith off like this. Is telling someone they love them really all that bad? It's not a proposal. Keith takes his hand off his lips and sighs almost sadly. He feels Lance cup his cheek again but Keith closes his eyes, hoping that it’ll hide the emotions playing behind them.

“Just because I don’t say it, doesn’t change how I feel,” Lance tells him, voice sympathetic.

“I know that,” Keith mumbles.

“Then why?”

Keith shakes his head, shrugging off Lance’s hand. He’s upset now. Emotional.

“It’s complicated. I told you before. I don’t want...to have something to lose. If you say--If you tell me that it makes it... _real_ ,” Keith grits his teeth, his cheeks begin to flush again. “Then when something happens--”

“Keith, nothing’s going to happen to me--”

“-- to me and you’re left alone, you’ll be--”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you-- ” Lance tries to interrupt, to stop the turmoil cracking Keith’s voice. He hates that sound of pain behind his words. “Keith, just--”

“ _ **I don’t want to lose you, Lance**_!” Keith shouts over him.

 

It’s quiet. Nothing but the ocean waves crashing on the reef and wind blowing the palm-like trees. Keith’s hands squeeze handfuls of sand in frustration. Lance just stares wide-eyed up at Keith, his voice echoing in his head.

It’s amazing how much that sentence sounds like ‘I love you’ to Lance.

It sounds like it to Keith too.

He didn’t mean to say those things. The conversation got away from him and he said more than he intended. He’s usually so much better at keeping control but it felt so good to say, to get off his chest. It felt like a mistake the moment the words came out but the weight it lifted was measurable. God, his shoulders feel looser, he tension in his chest eased.

But that doesn’t change the embarrassing jittery feeling of butterflies in his stomach as he waits for Lance to respond.

“Wow,” Lance blinks.

“I uh…” Keith stumbles on his words.

“You know...a couple months ago, I never would have thought you’d ever say anything like that...to anyone and especially not me.”

Keith swallows the butterflies he swears are floating their way up his throat. Lance reaches out, both arms encircling Keith for an embrace. He pulls him closer, slowly until Keith gives in and collapses into the hug. Lance’s hands rub his back and Keith lets out a deep breath.

“You’re scared. I get it,” Lance sighs and pets his hair.

“I’m not scared,” Keith argues but it’s an obvious lie. Lance’s fingers combing through his hair feels so good though and he relaxes in his hold.

“We’ll go slower then,” Lance offers. “How about this...I just really really really really really like you. Better?”

Keith snorts. That isn’t much better. Leave it to Lance to insert humor to make light of a serious situation. It’s about time Lance used his jokes at an appropriate time. Lance laughs a little, his arms still holding tight to Keith.

“Not enough ‘really’s’ right?” Lance asks.

“With how you feel...you probably need eight more,” Keith chuckles, feeling more at ease the more he jokes.

“Damn, I knew it. But that’ll get really annoying after a while. I won’t be able to breathe,” says Lance. “Something shorter. Oh, how about...I literally can’t stand to be away from you?”

“Still a mouthful,” Keith squirms and tries to sit up.

“That’s what she said,” Lance waggles his eyebrows and Keith rolls his eyes.

Lance’s arms hook around his neck, keeping Keith from sitting up all the way. Lance leans up and gives him a few deep kisses. Keith can’t say no to that and returns them, willing to stay on the sand for a moment more.

“How about…” Lance starts but then kisses him again, sighing against his lips. “I adore you.”

Keith’s face returns to that flushed red shade in the blink of an eye. Somehow ‘adore’ sounds more intimate than ‘love’ ever will. And the way Lance says it, he might as well be saying ‘love’. Might as well be saying it a hundred times. Keith clears his throat and looks towards the ocean, focusing on the horizon and not his thundering heart.

“That sounds okay,” Keith shrugs dismissively but it’s not very convincing.

“Haha, and you thought I was shy?” Lance snickers, blushing himself.

“Shut up,” Keith huffs and shoves him.

Keith makes his way to his feet once Lance lets him go. He pulls Lance up too and they both walk back to the blue lion while trying to brush off the sand. No words between them, they pack up their things and put on dry clothes. There’s still sand everywhere, between toes, in hair, and all over the floor of the cockpit but Lance doesn’t seem to care.

They had their first date together.

That’s worth sweeping sand out of nooks and crannies for months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is directly after the last chapter (Originally this and the last chapter were one chapter but I was not about to post a chapter with 44 pages)  
> SUPER FUCKING SMUTTY FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN I HAVE KINKS AND I LIKE INDULGING IN THEM
> 
> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 17, 2017

  
Once everything is gathered up from the beach and secured in the cockpit Lance takes his seat as the pilot. He then pats the space between his legs as an invitation to Keith and he takes it, ass flush with Lance’s crotch. Lance rests his chin on Keith’s shoulder with a happy sigh and flies them back home.

“This was a good idea, Lance,” Keith tells him well into the trip back.

“Heh, you weren’t so inclined when I pulled out the blindfold,” Lance points out. “You looked ready to run. Or fight me.”

“It was more fun than I thought it would be,” Keith admits.

“Learning to swim? Or the blindfold?” Lance jokingly insinuates.

“Both,” Keith smirks and Lance’s eyes go wide with a smile.

“Then I’ll keep it handy,” Lance winks suggestively. He then mouths Keith’s neck sending a tingle down his spine. “We can use it when we get back...I heard when you can’t see the rest of your senses go into hyperdrive, or something like that…”

“Who told you that?”

“A friend of a friend of a girl that almost kissed me in the storage closet in high school,” Lance tells him. “So a reliable source.”

Keith can’t imagine how stimulating that might be in his current state. He can already smell everything Lance has touched in the past twenty-four hours. Can taste what he’s eaten every time they kiss. Hear every breath and the emotion behind them. That simple brush of Lance’s mouth on his skin gives him shivers but if he was blind?

He’d unravel.

“Could we?” Lance whispers in his ear. “I’ve been wondering about it since we watched that Argala thing. I could even lift a pair of cuffs from the armory if you want.”

Keith in cuffs? He’s not sure how he feels about that. A blindfold maybe but what if instead...Lance bound with them...and on his knees? And maybe blindfolded? Lance could fall apart under his hands and teeth, shaking with unadulterated pleasure. What a sight and that’s just his imagination. It doesn’t take long for him to come to a decision.

“Yeah, sure,” Keith swallows, keeping his cool.

“Sweet,” Lance beams and taps his feet in excitement.

The Blue Lion pulls into the cockpit with ease. They land and exit, greeted by Hunk at the door that leads out of the hanger. He requests the picnic box for cleaning, asking nothing about their outing. When the yellow paladin gets it he opens it to find it empty. It lights up his entire face with glee.

“Guess it was good,” Hunk chuckles and scratches his blushing cheeks. “I’ll add it to the list of successful entrees.”

“It was more than good,” Lance tells him. “Keith ate like four of those sandwiches on his own.”

“Yeah,” Keith admits but with a little shame at his appetite.

“Nothing better than an empty plate!” Hunk smiles and closes the box. “Can’t wait to tell Pidge. Anyway, welcome back. You’re a little later than we thought you’d be. Dinner’s in like a varga and a half?”

They nod at him as he heads toward the kitchen with the picnic box, whistling happily.

“We just made his day,” Lance laughs. “No, his week.”

“Yeah,” Keith smirks.

Lance turns to him and puts an arm around his neck to corral him out into the hall. Keith lets him. It used to bother him walking around like that. Public displays weren’t his thing and normally he’d shrug off the arm with a huff. But he doesn’t mind as much at the moment and he can’t seem to pinpoint why. In no time they arrive at their room and stop.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just going to grab something,” Lance winks. “Go ahead and shower. You’ve probably got sand in places you didn’t know existed.”

“I do,” Keith admits.

“Isn’t it awesome? Anyway, see you in a tick,” Lance waves and runs off.

Keith enters the room and goes straight to the bathroom to look himself over. No signs of anything but he’d been extra careful about how he applied the coverup by extending it a centimeter further than the blotches actually reached. Just in case.

He taps a few buttons on the door to lock it before peeling off his clothes. Though Lance usually knocks and waits for confirmation to enter before barging in, he’d rather be safe than sorry. Doesn’t need Lance to come in when he’s in the middle of reapplying after cleaning up.

He lathers and scrubs, washing the makeup right off along with any sand that hitched a ride. After a quick rinse he’s done and takes a new look in the mirror with a grimace.

It’s spreading.

The one on his neck is moving towards the front. His forehead blotch isn’t spreading towards his eyebrow anymore but creeping down around it. In a day or two it’ll be touching the corner of his eye. In a week, it’ll surround it like a nasty black eye from a brawl. With trepidation he looks down on his hand and is disappointed to see it looks bigger there too.

He’d held out hope that maybe it would go away on it’s own but now the reality hits him harder than it ever has before.

It’s never going to stop.

This is his new reality.

*****

  
Lance sneaks ever so discreetly towards the armory and peeks inside. Quiet and empty. Shiro’s damaged armor sits on the table. Perfect. It takes a few minutes opening different compartments until he finds exactly what he’s looking for. Replacement gauntlets. Basic weapons. Extra communication devices. Cuffs!

They look just like the ones Nyma used on him. Must be the standard. Or she stole them from them when he let her waltz around the castle with him. He scolds himself for being so stupid and letting her onboard. Played right into those cute yellow hands of hers.

“Lance? What are you doing in here?” Coran asks.

“N-Nothing!” Lance nearly shrieks, hiding the cuffs behind him.

“Did you need to replace a piece of your armor?” Coran raises a brow, leaning to try and see what Lance is hiding. “Are you holding a pair of intergalactic restraints?”

“Uh...no?” Lance tries but Coran isn’t convinced. Lance sighs and shows him. “Yeah...that’s what they are.”

“What do you want those for?”

“I was just...uh, curious about how they work,” Lance explains. It’s not entirely a lie. “We hardly know anything about this space tech. Thought I’d familiarize myself with it and it’s history. In case I need to cuff an enemy combatant.”

“Ah! Why didn’t you say so?” Coran laughs. “Actually, it’s quite fascinating how these came into being! It all started when I was about your age...you’re what? 8 decaphoebes? Anyhow, I was just entered into the mechanic’s--”

“Uh Coran,” Lance interrupts him and looks guiltily to the floor. “I don’t...actually...I lied. I just want to know how to use them. For something else.”

“Hmm? Oh! Ah, I see,” Coran nods, suddenly understanding. “In that case…”

Coran plucks them from Lance’s hands and for a second he thinks Coran is about to put them back. And lock the containment unit they’re held in for good measure. But he leans down a little and points to the different buttons.

“Blue ones control tightness, use them to adjust width to appropriate wrist size. It can handle anything between three to fifteen of your ‘Earth inches’ in circumference. Smaller teal buttons control how close or far apart the cuffs can be, from touching to approximately three ‘Earth meters’,” Coran explains.

Lance nods while taking the in the information. He then points to other buttons, eager to know what they’re all for.

“And these?”

“Don’t touch those unless you want to badly electrocute someone,” Coran shakes his head. “The voltage is determined via the vital signs it measures. Here’s the screen. See?”

Coran slaps on the cuff and pulls up a display. Heart rate. Breathing rate. Blood pressure. He takes it off and the display disappears. He then points to the last couple of buttons.

“If there’s a metal surface you can attach the cuffs by activating the magnetic field. Strong enough to hold back the weight of a full grown Yelmor. Nothing metal? Hit this button to create an electromagnetic band to surround a stationary object,” Coran tells him.

“Like Nyma did to me,” Lance grumbles at the memory.

“Yes! Like Nyma did to you,” Coran repeats with a laugh. “The rest of these buttons make smaller adjustments based on planetary gravitational pull and all other sorts of things you couldn’t possibly understand or have a use for. Oh! Here’s a fun one!”

He presses a series of buttons and the two cuffs turn into one big hoop.

“Great for enemies without arms or with arms far too large. You put it on their neck. King Alfor would set it up on one of the walls in his office and throw balled up paper into it. Made a game of it,” Coran taps them back and it splits into two again. “Not that you two will use it in that way I imagine.”

“No we’ll probably just--” Lance cuts himself off with a blush. “I uh...I mean…who? What?”

Coran chuckles and shakes his head.

“You’re young Lance and I’m sure you’ll be experimenting with all sorts of things,” he laughs but his tone turns a serious as he twirls the cuffs around his fingers. “But these aren’t toys, Lance. They are designed for combat and as such are very dangerous. You shouldn’t play around with them, someone could get hurt.”

“Figures,” Lance sighs with disappointment but also understanding. He should have expected this.

The Altean looks at that dejected face and feels his will crumble. He did much worse when he was young, things that were easily more deadly than this in the name of curiousity. Coran taps a few buttons here and there before tossing them to Lance. He barely catches them and looks up at Coran questioningly.

“I went ahead and disabled the more dangerous components. So you don’t end up killing each other with electroshock. Ho ho!”

“Really? Thanks Coran, you’re the best,” Lance smiles and shoves the cuffs quickly into his pocket. “You’re not going to tell Shiro are you? When he’s healed up? He’s technically the senior officer back at the garrison and our leader. I think he looks at us like we’re little kids.”

“Are you considered an adult on your planet?” Coran asks sincerely.

“Yeah,” Lance shrugs. Pretty much. He’s old enough to enlist in the military, he considers that adult enough.

“Then there’s no reason to answer to anyone but yourself as far as this is concerned,” Coran tells him. “Be safe young paladin. Be sure to communicate. And return that equipment when you’re finished. Clean if you will, Lance. Ho ho ho!”

Coran stays in the armory and begins repairs on the torso of Shiro’s armor. He wants to have the gaping hole fixed up before the Black Paladin wakes from the pod. Lance nods another thanks at him and takes off, back to their room.

*****

Keith hears the room door open just as he finishes covering his hand. Lance knocks on the bathroom door and asks if he’s done. Perfect timing.

“Just about,” Keith answers and double checks his body for the third time. Content with his cover job, he unlocks the door and opens it.

“I need a shower,” Lance slides behind him and pulls off his clothes. “The ridiculous amount of nervous sweat I worked up a minute ago is enough to last a lifetime.”

“What happened?” Keith asks while he brushes his hair with Lance’s comb.

He explains the entire event while washing all the sand out of his nooks and crannies. Keith just nods while pulling his hair up into a little ponytail. Lance likes when he does that. Its obvious from the way he trails off so Keith’s been doing it more frequently.

“And he just let you have them?” Keith asks, swiveling his head nonchalantly and swiping his bangs out of the way. It catches Lance off guard and he stares for a moment. “Lance?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” Lance blinks then rinses his hair. “We can’t keep them though.”

Keith nods and stoops down to rummage through Lance’s clothes until he finds the cuffs and the blindfold. He leaves the cuffs on the counter, not interested in trying them on in the least. But he takes the blindfold and leaves the bathroom so Lance can wash up on his own. He plops onto the bed, legs off the edge, and fondles the blue cloth between his fingers.

After a moment of contemplation he ties it in place.

He can’t see and instinctively he tries to smell the room. There’s the smell of his plant. Earthy soil and chlorophyll. Pillows smell like each of them respectively, though, Lance’s is starting to smell like both of them lately. There’s a dirty sock somewhere in the room. Probably under the bed.

The water turns off in the bathroom and Keith listens intently. Lance’s feet hitting the floor as he steps out. The tussle of hair in a towel. Sink faucet running. Is he brushing his teeth? After that he towels off his body, giving a little sigh as he finishes up by pulling on a pair of boxers. Before he even walks out or even says a word he smells Lance’s newly freshened breath and clean hair.

This is going to be far more intense than he first thought.

“You put it on already?” Lance asks, the sounds of something clinking in his hands.

“Just mentally preparing myself,” Keith tells him. “Think I’d prefer you wearing it.”

“I will,” Lance assures him and Keith can almost hear the blush on his cheeks. “But you first.”

Something lands on the bed but Keith can’t tell what it is. It’s heavy, so probably the cuffs. Lance kneels in front of the bed between Keith’s legs and takes Keith’s hand.

Fingers, hot and damp from the recent shower. Lance’s thumb presses against Keith’s pulse while he noses his wrist. He breathes in the smell and kisses it. He trails kisses up his palm, then fingers until he’s at the tip of Keith’s index and without warning he plunges it into his mouth.

Keith actually gasps at the sudden warmth and wet suction. When he shoved his fingers into Lance’s mouth before it felt good, no doubt, but this is a different experience altogether. It’s so vivid. He can feel every single swirl of tongue, every bit of friction from Lance’s teeth grazing his finger.

And then Lance takes another finger in his mouth.

“Lance,” Keith sighs, his loins responding quickly.

Lance hums happily, filling his mouth with Keith’s probing fingers. His other hand brushes up Keith’s thigh, fingers slipping under the edge of his boxers to give him a squeeze. Unbidden, Keith spreads his knees further apart, making the bulge more apparent. He takes Keith’s fingers out of his mouth and leans in close.

“Lay back, Keith,” Lance whispers in his ear. “Like you’re going to float.”

Keith nods and, with Lance’s guiding hand, falls back onto the mattress.

“I want to uh...tie your wrists up here, above your head. Can I?” Lance asks.

Keith hesitates and Lance hears it. Uncertainty and discomfort. Maybe this isn’t the best idea. If he’s not into that--Lance is about to say ‘nevermind’ when Keith takes a breath.

“Just. this. once,” Keith answers.

Lance nods, not that Keith can see, and slides the cuffs on slowly. He hits the buttons like Coran showed him. Not too tight and close together. Freeform and not secured to anything. He even pulls up the vitals screen to keep track of his heart rate in case it’s too much and they need to stop.

Keith feels so exposed. Defenseless. Normally, he’d hate this. Hate anything that compromised his ability to see, to think. But the things he feels...the pressure on both sides as Lance’s crawls up his body. Wet lips planting hot kisses up his stomach. The sound and smell of Lance’s breath as he sighs contentedly against him. He can’t feel them with this level of intensity any other way.

He hopes he can trust Lance not to take advantage of this vulnerability.

His stiff cock twitches, eager to receive some attention of its own but Lance doesn’t seem to be heading that way. He’s getting closer to his chest. Fingers skid and slide against his hips and ribs. Lance’s tongue is making a trail up, up, up until it swirls around his nipple.

“Ah!” Keith bites his lip. His heartrate and breathing rate skyrocket. That answers his question about Lance knowing his weak points.

Lance chuckles, pleased with the response. He sucks hard on the sensitive nub, laving his tongue over it again and again.

Keith pants and whines and it’s the most arousing thing Lance has ever seen. He toys with him a little, using his thumb and forefinger to pinch one while his mouth tastes the other nipple. Keith gasps again, his face flushing pinker and pinker as they go. Keith does his best to keep from writhing under Lance but it’s hard. Literally and figuratively.

God was this a mistake? He feels like he’s dying.

He keeps trying to thrust up, to touch something, anything, with his boner. But of course, Lance is too high over him to reach. He lets out a frustrated groan but it goes weak and mewling when Lance finally reaches down to palm his bulge.

Normally a firm squeeze on the outside of his clothes would feel chaste, a tame foreplay move but to Keith it's like being offered a single lick of icing when he’s starving for the whole cake.

“F-Fuck,” Keith groans and thrusts against Lance’s hand. It’s the first time he’s wanted to beg in his life and he comes dangerously close to doing so. Pride be damned.

“Guess that sensory thing is true,” Lance muses, looking down at Keith.

Lance can’t believe it. This would have taken twice as long if they just made out. And Keith wouldn’t look like he’s going to shake apart at every touch. Lance flushes knowing he’s probably the only one who’s ever seen Keith like this. Sprawled out, gasping, and desperate for contact.

Lance must be staring again, Keith concludes. Those hands have stopped touching for over a minute now. Not that he’s counting the seconds in anticipatory agony or anything. And his breathing is slower too. Is he just admiring all he’s done? God, Keith’s not used to waiting for gratification and it’s starting to make him cranky.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Keith huffs and grunts against the restraints. He’s tired of them now and just wants to get his hands back. If Lance won’t touch him then he should let him go so he can at least touch himself.

Lance swallows. “C-Can I? Cause you look…perfect.”

Keith breath hitches and he flushes scarlet as his heart rate raises.

“Don’t say shit like that,” Keith huffs, trying to will away the heat from his face.

Lance wants to laugh at how badly Keith can’t take a compliment.

He snatches a helmet off the table and begins recording. He can pick out screenshots later of his favorite parts. Lance hooks a chair with his lanky leg, pulls it over, and perches the helmet on top of it before returning.

Keith shivers when Lance comes back and brushes his warm hand up his leg. He’s crawling over him again but he lowers his hips and rubs his own crotch against him. Keith practically hisses at the slow pace and pressure Lance administers. Lance kisses and sucks at his neck to which Keith gives a warning growl.

“Right, right,” Lance clears his throat. “No hickies. Sorry.”

He scoots back, peppering kisses down as he goes, until he reaches his waistband. Keith lets out a deep, relieved breath when Lance pulls down his boxers. He can feel the fabric as it scrapes down his skin. The hot breath of Lance on his twitching cock. He can even smell his own arousal as sticky precome pearls on his tip.

“Lance,” Keith shudders at each breath Lance takes on him. The heat, the sound of Lance’s exhalations, the smell of toothpaste. It’s all too much, making him jittery.

And then Lance barely licks him. One long lick from the base to the tip.

The whine that comes out of him is undignified, shameful, and positively wretched but he doesn’t even fucking care. The sweep of his tongue is so light he could make a case that Lance is purposefully withholding more and because it's over far too quickly Keith growls in annoyance. Or at least he attempts a growl as what comes out is a pitiful whine.

“You know, you’re beautiful when you’re sexually frustrated,” Lance gives Keith a wide grin he can’t see but can practically feel in his tone. “This is fun.”

“You’re the worst--aaah!,” Keith groans as Lance does it again. Hot tongue slathering him with moisture but even slower this time.

He’s going to shake apart and start begging soon, Keith just knows it. He’s already shivering at each graze of finger, breath of air, and the promise of wetness. He doesn’t want to plead for release...and yet he does. Anything to get the satisfaction he yearns for and to stop that haughty chuckle coming out of Lance. Why is he not surprised that Lance is into teasing him? Does it outside of the bedroom, why would inside be any different?

As much fun as this is, Lance’s ready to end this.

Looking at that cock, full salute and twitching, precome just dripping down his length. Finally, he’s going to get the chance to taste the Keith. Nothing is going to get in his way this time. Plus, Keith looks ready to just burst.

Just as he’s about to put Keith out of his misery and lower his mouth on him there’s a knock at the door.

“No,” Keith grits his teeth in agony as Lance pulls his mouth away. He swears there was a brush of lips there a second ago. The myriad of curses and explicatives he wants to unleash on the person who--

“Occupied!” Lance calls out with a chipper voice, despite his disappointment

His hand takes hold of Keith instead and strokes gently. The red paladin throws his head back with a muffled sigh. It’s not what he wants but he’ll take it. Anything is better than light fleeting touches that raise his heart rate with expectations of more.

His vitals finally have the chance to round out again.

“Hunk wants everyone to know that dinner’s ready,” Pidge calls through the door. “Allura also wants to talk about Shiro’s status in the pods with everyone, so it’s mandatory.”

“Got it! Be there soon!” Lance responds.

Once they’re fairly certain Pidge is gone, Lance climbs over Keith to tap the buttons on the cuffs. They slacken and fall right off. The second they do Keith pulls the blindfold off with a tormented sigh.

God, he has to get through dinner now?

Maybe they have enough time. Keith reaches for his dick ready to just rub it out before Lance takes his hand and shakes his head. He looks at Lance with confusion, then down at his cock, and then back to Lance again who gives him a knowing glance.

He wants him to wait?

“Are you fu--Are you serious??” Keith asks, his eyes wide and Lance nods.

“What you can’t wait like...a varga?” Lance raises his brow. He’s already putting on pants.

“I could, doesn’t mean I want to,” Keith palms his face in frustration.

He tries taking a deep relaxing breath but it’s benefits are questionable. His dick is still rock hard, his testicles heavy, his mind keeps replaying how very close he was to getting blown. Is this payback for that night he made Lance go to bed with blue balls? This is payback isn’t it?

If there is anything to suggest Karma being real, it’s this.

“Just think of it like this,” Lance says while shrugging on his shirt. “The sooner we eat, the sooner we can come back and...finish.”

Lance gives him a wink and Keith rolls his eyes so hard he’s afraid they’re gonna pop out of his head. He flops back onto the bed with an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair and glaring at Lance from under his bangs. He doesn’t wither under the gaze in the least.

Fine. Keith takes another calming breath. He just needs a few minutes. Lance can go ahead without him, he’ll catch up.

“Promise you’ll wait?” Lance peeks back in the room.

“Yeah, just go,” Keith waves him off.

He can do this. It’s just an hour. Just an hour of heavy, swollen balls filled with excruciating pain.

It’s not like he’s going to die.

*****

He’s going to die and it’s all Lance’s fault.

Acts like he’s this innocent guy, shiny eyes and disarming smile. The fiend. Sitting across from him as he usually does, chatting with everyone, joking, and eating his food. Or so it looks but Keith knows better. This is not how he normally does dinner.

It’s finger food tonight. Something alien, like everything they eat, but Keith can’t even look at it because all he can see is Lance being a seductive little shit. Licking his lips extra slow. Sucking sauce off his fingers while looking him dead in the eye.

He should have just taken care of it back in the room. Why he listened to Lance and decided to wait is beyond him. At this rate he’s going to shoot across the table and--God, he’s caught between wanting to tear Lance apart or ripping his clothes off with his teeth and bending him over the table.

Lance has to know it’s killing him inside, that he’s flooded with equal parts annoyance and lust. He simply gives Keith those innocent eyes with a Cheshire grin.

“You’re evil,” Keith concludes with a whisper. Everyone is distracted by one of Hunk’s stories and doesn’t hear him.

“Me?”

“Allura said the greatest threat to the known universe is Zarkon,” Keith comments. “Now, I’m not so sure it isn’t you.”

“Whatcha gonna do? Fight me?” Lance grins, sucking his finger clean.

‘Fight’ is not the ‘f’ word Keith has in mind at the moment but he holds his tongue.

Keith simmers in his seat and returns to his meal. He doesn’t talk for a while and in fact, refuses to look at Lance. Instead, he plans in striking detail all the things he’s going to do to Lance the moment they get back to the room. Payback. With all the teasing he’s doing, Keith’s starting to think Lance wants to be throttled and his imagination pulls no punches.

Coran starts telling a story about Allura’s childhood and in the middle of it the princess joins in to refute the tale. The both of them talk louder and louder over each other, all in good fun, and Lance takes it as a good time to bother Keith again. It’s nice seeing him get riled up.

He nudges Keith’s foot to get his attention. The red paladin huffs but looks up from his meal. He looks less angry than before, almost his aloof self again.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Lance whispers and grazes the toe of his shoe along Keith’s calf.

“I’m thinking it’s a good thing you like it rough because half of me wants to shove you face first into a wall,” Keith says calmly.

Lance nearly spits his drink and stares in shock. He glances at the rest of the table. No notice taken. He’s joking, right? He has to be, he doesn’t even look mad. In fact, he looks very composed, borderline content. Gotta be a joke.

“Ouch. And the other half?” he laughs, with a weak smile.

Keith looks up from his food with a dark smirk.

“The other half wants to do the same but with you naked, begging, and in handcuffs,” he says while closing his eyes and casually eating from his plate.

Lance turns pink and covers his mouth to muffle the small squeak he lets out. Two can play this game, Lance discovers too late. And Keith’s better at it.

Getting the shit beat out of him does not sound fun but the sexual context changes it all completely. And how can he just say that at the table?! Lance was at least discreet with his teasing, a decibel higher and the whole team will hear Keith’s dirty mouth.

“I’m thinking the second,” Keith muses as he takes bite out of his meal, flashing his teeth before crunching through. “We could do it here on the table for everyone to see.”

That keeps a flushed Lance quiet for the rest of dinner, not willing to say something that might get overheard. He even stops his flirty glances, which is all Keith really wanted to begin with. Later, he’ll have to talk to Lance about appropriate place and time. Maybe they can talk about it in the midst of some rough foreplay.

Keith’s finishes eating and since Allura told them all about Shiro’s recovery before they started dinner he has no reason to stay any longer. He announces he’s finished--even though he could definitely eat another plate--and stands from the table. The others have come to expect this from him and nod to acknowledge him before returning to their conversations.

He needs to go familiarize himself with the cuffs.

“Catch you later, Lance,” Keith says pointedly over his shoulder as he leaves the table.

Lance swallows at the wordage. So intentional. It’s fraught with implications he can’t help but imagine. Will Keith hide somewhere and pounce on him when he least expects it? That’s...kinda hot.

“Keith mad at you?” Hunk asks.

“That remains to be seen?” Lance swallows. “Hopefully not too mad?”

“What did you do?” Pidge asks in an accusing tone.

“Uh, nothing,” Lance shakes his head. “He’s totally not mad.”

“If you say so,” Hunk shrugs and passes food down to him.

Lance eats a few more morsels, thinking a little too hard about what will happen when he returns to the room. So they can...finish. Oh boy.

He can just see Keith laying in wait for him and as nervous he is about that he can’t help feel intrigued by it. Flashes of the documentary play in his mind. Of knotted ropes, desperate moans, and coming in the throes of--

“Y-Yeah, I’m done,” Lance excuses himself, pushing the plate away.

“You barely finished,” Hunk says disappointed.

“Ate a lot at lunch,” Lance shrugs and scoots out of the table, taking care to hide the semi in his pants. “Night guys.”

Lance walks with his hands in his pockets the whole way back, hoping it disguises the bulge there. He also peeks into rooms as he passes, checking for Keith hiding in one. It’s nerve wracking but exciting in a way. Common room’s empty. Training deck, also empty. He’s gotta be waiting in their room.

He opens the door and walks inside. No sounds within. The light from the hall illuminates the room for a second before the door closes and plunges the room into total darkness. Why is the bathroom light off?

“What...on...Earth...” Lance palms the wall and follows it to the room panel. Just as he’s about to touch it a hand grasps his and twists it behind his back. His panicked involuntary reaction is to strike out with his free hand. It gets caught easily and twisted behind him as well.

Then he feels the clasp of the cuffs and realizes.

“Keith?! Christ, you scared the shit--” Lance starts but Keith slams him against the wall.

It doesn’t hurt as much as some of their training sessions but it doesn’t exactly tickle either. Lance feels a warm body pressing against his back and he hears Keith breathing him in with deep inhales. A hand snakes around his stomach and dips roughly into Lance’s pants with no pretense of patience.

“Ah, K-Keith,” Lance gasps as Keith gropes his length. He squeezes and strokes, slowly until Lance goes from semi hard to full and firm.

Keith bites tenderly at his neck, increasing pressure until Lance starts to moan and then he releases. Each time he bites down he releases before the bite reaches it’s apex. All the while Keith keeps Lance’s dick in his hand, his hold now soft and loose so that Lance only gets the slightest of pressure around him.

Keith then takes away his hand and stops biting. Lance voices his objection immediately in a whining groan.

“Sucks doesn’t it?” Keith breaths on his neck.

It’s strange. Keith knows the room is pitch black but even so...he can see a faint outline of Lance, as if there is a candle barely illuminating the room. He can see his raised brows and his panting mouth. The angles of his back and the strain in his shoulders as he struggles against his bonds. Lance’s eyes search the room but focus on nothing.

Lance can’t see him at all.

Guess he won’t need the blindfold then. He’s got a better idea for it anyway.

He pulls Lance off the wall and shoves him unceremoniously onto the bed so that he falls on his back with a yelp. He snatches the blindfold from the bed and ties a knot in the center.

“Open your mouth Lance,” Keith tells him, pressing the knot to his mouth.

“Why?” Lance asks turning away.

“Because for all that crap you pulled at dinner I’m going to bite you a lot and hard,” Keith says as he grazes his teeth on Lance’s neck making him arch. “And I don’t want anyone to come in here thinking I’m killing you.”

Lance doesn’t want that either. And God he loves those bites, no way is he going to be able to keep quiet. It’s a punishment he can’t wait to get. He opens up and gladly takes the knot in his mouth. Keith ties it off and lets him rest his head back on a pillow.

Within seconds Keith’s already pulling the collar of his shirt aside and sinking his teeth into Lance’s shoulder. He licks and sucks on the bite before adding a second one nearly on top of it. Lance shudders but manages to keep quiet though he’s not sure how.

He can feel how deep each bite goes, feel the teeth press into his flesh with alarming clarity. Feel Keith’s hot wet tongue sliding over the mark. Lance can even hear it, hear when Keith takes in a ragged breath before biting down and the hum of an almost purr as Keith enjoys the taste of Lance in his mouth.

And Keith’s just getting started.

With each set of bites Lance shudders and moans into the gag. Keith stops every couple of bites to let Lance come back to himself and to look down on him. Shirt pulled up to expose his torso. Bound and shaking. Drool already leaking out the side of his mouth. Eyes rolled back in his head each time Keith seizes him with his grinning teeth.

Its everything he hoped it would be.

Lance’s chest is peppered with marks that are certainly going to bruise. Keith licks his lips and swears he tastes blood. Did he bite too hard? Just to make sure Lance is okay he pulls the gag down from his lips.

“Want to stop? Anything hurt?” Keith asks.

Lance pants and licks his dry lips.

“No, d-don’t stop,” Lance gasps to Keith’s relief. “Feels...great. I should t-tease you more often.”

“I dunno, I’m getting tired,” Keith smirks. “Maybe we should take a break?”

“No! C’mon, Keith, d-don’t--” Lance whines and wriggles in this bonds.

Keith presses the gag back between his lips. Lance gives off a grateful moan when he feels his pants slowly being teased off. Once they’re on the floor he keeps expecting the boxers to join them. They don’t. Instead Keith spreads his legs apart and pushes the fabric up to expose inner thigh.

That’ll be a nice meaty bite.

A bite so close to his groin makes Lance arch, makes him thrust instinctively and whine. Keith licks the bite, sucks on the flesh. He cruelly rubs Lance’s crotch briefly before biting again, even harder.

Lance tries to moan Keith’s name but it comes out garbled. He can feel Keith’s smile against his thigh right before he bites again. His body squirms and jumps, trying to feel more of Keith’s caressing hand. This is absolute torture but he has to admit...the anticipation is thrilling. Not knowing where the pleasure will come from next keeps him excited and eager for more.

“Can’t decide what to do next Lance,” Keith sighs after turning him over and chomping on his supple ass cheek.

Lance only whimpers and whines, his erection straining against his boxers. He keeps thinking Keith’s going to pull the rest of his clothes off. Maybe blow him like this while helpless. When Keith’s face gets close and takes another bite he imagines that swirling tongue in his ass again.

“I could just stop like you did. Make you wait it out. Till tomorrow maybe?” Keith suggests and Lance shakes his head, a low whine rumbling in his throat. It sounds like ‘please no’ followed by ‘I’m sorry’.

As much as he likes teasing Lance maybe it’s time to lose the gag. He wants to hear that weak and ruined voice, wants to taste those quivering lips. He rolls him over on his back again and the moment he pulls the gag off he dives in tongue first to kiss Lance. Lance sighs and moans and bites at Keith’s lips, greedy for anything he can get.

Keith cups the back of Lance’s head and slides his fingers into his mouth. The blue paladin lets out a needy moan, sucking hard to get more in his mouth. Keith delves them in deeper, three of them up to the knuckles and Lance responds perfectly, swirling his tongue and gasping. There’s drool leaking out the corners of his mouth and dripping down his incredibly flushed face.

“You’re a mess,” Keith comments with a smirk. But God if it isn’t the hottest thing he’s ever seen. He takes his fingers away so he can have both hands for what he wants to do next.

“Give them b-back,” Lance begs.

“Want something in your mouth?” Keith asks, ready to abandon his plan. Lance nods weakly. “Get up then. On your knees.”

Lance obediently rolls and with Keith’s help he sits up. He gets pulled closer to the edge of the bed and Keith moves to stand in front of him. His fingers massage the top of Lance’s head gently before grasping a handful of hair. He tilts his head back a little and Lance gasps, his mouth agape.

Keith lowers his pants enough to free his cock before sliding it into Lance’s mouth.

“F-Fu--ah, L-Lance,” Keith stammers, his voice hitching.

This is what he wanted so badly earlier. What Lance denied him. He thrusts in and Lance’s moan vibrates around his cock. When he looks down he sees Lance desperately trying to take more of him, frantically swirling his tongue around his head, spit dripping down his chin. Licks up each drop of precome coming out, hungrily trying to get more and gasping with pleasure when he gets some.

What a sight, that smile on his face.

“K-Keith,” Lance swallows and pants. “Will you...d-do it this time?”

“Do…?”

“In my mouth,” Lance begs and licks the head for another salty pearl. “I’m ready, I can...I can do it.”

Keith closes his eyes and tries not to let himself entertain the idea. Tries to keep his head clear but all he can see is Lance bound and meekly taking a full load, the excess he’s unable to swallow leaking out and down his chin in delicious little rivulets. Keith takes a deep breath in through his nose, trying to wipe the image but he can smell his arousal on Lance’s breath which brings it back.

He can’t. Not the whole thing. But maybe a taste won’t be too selfish.

Keith removes himself from Lance’s mouth and strokes his wet length. He’s still got his fingers tight in Lance’s hair which should be enough to direct him where he wants him to go. To direct him to and fro when it’s time.

“Just a little,” Keith whispers, more to himself than to Lance. Just a little won’t hurt.

It doesn’t take long to build it up and Lance can hear when Keith’s getting close. He tries biting back little groans and lets out ragged sighs. His fingers tighten in Lance’s hair more and more making Lance’s stomach flip with anticipation.

It feels so dirty wanting this. Lance’s mouth parts more and he tries to pull ahead to Keith’s dick but the hand holds him firmly in place. He whines in response again, heady with need. He has to taste it. Wants it so bad. Why is Keith keeping it from him? To be a tease? What does he want him to do? Beg? Because he’s already there.

“Please, Keith,” Lance whimpers.

“L-Lance,” he tries to bite back the desire in his tone but fails.

He can’t resist that begging mouth. Keith shoves his cock back in and Lance moans at being filled. After a few steady thrusts and unbridled moans, Keith knows he’s close. He releases with a groan and at the last second, right as the first spurt enters Lance’s mouth, he pulls out to allow the rest to drip to the floor.

It’s not much but Lance relishes the taste. Salty and sweet coating his tongue and as he swallows he wishes there was more. He licks his lips and his teeth, seeking it out and delighting in the aftertaste remaining. He feels hot, giddy, and hornier than ever. Its no wonder guys in pornos like it so much. He keeps trying to move forward for another taste but Keith’s hand keeps him from getting anywhere.

“Eager huh?”

“Can you blame me? You taste...taste so good,” Lance smiles and pulls in his grasp. “I...I want to taste more.”

Not about to happen on Keith’s watch. That little bit has Lance exhilarated, his face breaking out into a overly pleased grin. Who knows what a lot will do to him?

“You’ve had enough,” Keith assures him and pushes him back onto the bed.

Keith cleans some of the friendly fire that made it to Lance’s chin and neck with his mouth. Lance shakes and sighs at every sweep of his tongue. Every little touch is setting him on fire.

Once he’s clean, Keith drags his hands down Lance’s shivering body until he gets to his shorts. He pulls them off, his aching boner stands at attention. At even the faintest of touches it jumps and when Keith grabs ahold Lance emits a high pitched keen. He’s sticky all down his cock, dripping with precome.

Keith can smell it, practically taste it on the air. And it’s all his now.

With no pretence of announcing himself, Keith engulfs the whole salty length.

The wailing moan that comes out of Lance...he hopes no one walks by and hears that. They won’t have any misunderstanding of what is happening in their room. Lance squirms and thrusts and moans as his dick slides in and out of Keith’s hungry mouth. Keith pins his hips firmly in place to still him so he can bob over his dick at his leisure.

He considers gagging Lance again but at this rate he won’t last much longer. This is exactly what he wanted to see. Lance helpless and dependent on Keith for every pleasure. Covered in sweat, panting with need, shouting his name.

“You’re so hot,” Keith whispers against his skin.

“K-Keith!”

He spreads Lance’s knees apart and lifts his hips off the bed. He sucks and licks Lance’s balls, moaning between laps of his tongue. He tastes so good everywhere. Lifting his hips a little higher gives him access to his ass which he rims with his wet and warm probing tongue. Lance is close, his breaths are so short now. And he can’t seem to form any words; none in english anyway.

“God I want to fuck you, Lance,” Keith announces as his tongue penetrates as far as he can.

That does it and Lance comes in a mewling moan, his body shaking. And thanks to the angle his come streams down his body to pool around his chest and soak into his shirt. Keith keeps tasting him until Lance stops shivering and goes slack. Once he’s spent and weak Keith gives him a gentle bite on his thigh before lowering him back to the mattress.

“I-I-I…” Lance stutters and wheezes. “I c-can’t...breathe, Keith.”

Keith reaches over, turns Lance just enough to access the cuffs and turn them off. They slacken and Keith tosses them onto the other side of the bed. The release of tension makes it infinitely easier for Lance to breathe.

“Better?”

“Much,” Lance sighs his face still very flushed. “You gonna...turn on the light?”

“Nope. Time for bed anyway,” Keith shakes his head and crawls over. “Here, don’t move.”

Keith slowly licks any and all residual fluids from Lance’s body while pulling off the filthy shirt. He takes his time and revels in the feel of cleaning him up. Semen, sweat, and a small amount of blood from his shoulder. It’s dried but he licks it up nonetheless. Lance just relaxes and gets his bearings back under Keith’s attentive tongue.

“When you said--”

“-that I wanted to fuck you?” Keith finishes before he can.

“Yeah,” Lance blushes, biting at his lip a little. “We actually gonna to do that too? Some day?”

“Dunno. You want to?” Keith asks.

“Maybe...I’d have to think about it,” Lance admits. “Would I get to do it to you too?”

“Sure, why not,” Keith tells him and settles back in place next to Lance. He pulls Lance’s gift from his jacket on the floor. Booting the book up illuminates their space a little.

“Really? I always thought that I’d have to--yeah, okay that’s stupid, nevermind. Ignore that,” he chuckles, a little embarrassed.

“What? You think you’re only allowed to be one or the other? Catch or pitch? You watch too much porn, Lance,” Keith smirks and turns the page. “That stuff’s fake. We’re real. And real relationships are more complicated than that.”

Lance sits up suddenly and jumps out of the bed like he’s forgotten something. He slams his hand on the room panel flooding the room with light, making Keith wince at the sudden brilliance and squint in annoyance. What’s his problem? Lance looks shaken and uncertain but Keith responds with a confused look of his own.

“Did you just refer to what we have as a relationship?” Lance stares with shock.

“What?” Keith blinks, the book dipping in his grasp.

“You just said…” Lance furrows his brows. “We’re real. Real relationships are more complicated…”

“I…” Keith’s eyes widen with realization.

He did say that. Keith raises his book and forces his face to look at the words, heat rising on his cheeks.

“Yeah, so what?” Keith huffs.

“But you said before that we weren’t--”

“Yeah, well...I changed my mind,” Keith retreats into the pillow, shrinking into hiding behind his book.

So what if he said before they weren’t dating, that they were never going to date. That this was only for fun and relaxation. So what if before he didn’t want it to be more complicated than sleeping together, making out, and sexual favors. So what if it was just supposed to be a casual friends-with-benefits arrangement.

It’s not like that any more.

Lance is quiet, for long enough that Keith eventually has to look up to see what he’s thinking. Is he mad for taking so long? Disappointed because he’d already accepted their previous agreement?

He still looks stunned, staring as the gears turn in his head. When it all clicks into place he blinks.

It starts with a small turn of the mouth.

Then it’s a smile.

A spreading dopey grin.

“You’re my boyfriend,” Lance whispers. His hand comes to his forehead and slides down his face as he speaks again, louder this time as his understanding becomes even more clear. “Holy shit, you’re **_my boyfriend!_** I’m _**your boyfrien** **d** **!** _ We’re boyfriends!”

He hoots, hollers, and repeats the sentences over and over at higher volumes and in different languages, the pure joy in his voice uncontainable as he spins and jumps naked about the room. He knew it was only a matter of time before Keith admitted it and there he is, sitting calmly on the bed, face flushed but not refuting Lance’s claims.

“Don’t yell,” Keith huffs, his face turning redder the more delighted Lance looks. “People are trying to sleep.”

“This is a dream, isn’t it?” Lance asks suddenly still. “Say it,” Lance turns and points at him with both fingers. “Say it I’ll shut up for the rest of the night. I swear, I won’t say another word if you say it. Tell me I’m your boyfriend, that you’re dating me.”

“Christ Lance, you’re my boyfriend. Now shut up and go to sleep,” Keith flips through his book, trying to look perturbed but failing due to the flush in his cheeks.

It felt nice to say, a bubbling warm feeling in his stomach. His first boyfriend.

He can see why Lance has trouble containing his enthusiasm.

True to his word Lance just pumps his fist victoriously, followed up with a happy albeit silent jig complete with finger guns and the cha-cha, before slipping on his boxers and hitting the light again. He climbs onto the bed, over Keith and lays down on his chest, just out of the way of the holo-screen. He gives Keith’s chest nuzzle before settling in with a happy sigh.

After a few pages, Keith looks down with a content smile at the dozing Lance. He puts down the book and massages fingers through Lance’s hair, caressing his neck gently as he looks at him. His soft hair. His smooth skin. His perpetual smile. Lance only hums contently and clings closer.

While more than a few guys have claimed to love Keith and insist they couldn’t live without him, never has he felt that way about any of them. He couldn’t understand the sentiment then and now he’s realizing how cruel his indifference must have felt. If Lance...If he suddenly said he cared nothing for Keith…

Keith takes a shaky breath as his chest tightens. He doesn’t even want to think about it. His lungs squeezed of all air, his heart pumping acid through his body, his vision swimming in darkness.

This is heartache, he realizes.

If something were to happen to Lance...He swallows down a panicked gasp. God, that’s an even worse feeling churning his stomach. If he lingers on that thought too long he’ll make himself sick.

Lance stirs sensing distress. He sleepily lifts his head to look around and when he finds nothing amiss he shrugs. After resituating himself off of Keith he snuggles in close at his side. He kisses Keith gently on his neck before settling back in, his face buried in his hair with a content sigh. He’s clearly not worried about what tomorrow will bring.

On the beach, Lance assured him nothing would happen to them and it’s hard not to feel a little contempt for that blatant optimism. How can he know that? How can he be so happy all the time? Just flow with things and not think about all that could go wrong? He’s so positive where Keith is uncertain and if he didn’t know the guy he’d hate that cocky smile of his.

Lance sighs and rubs Keith’s chest.

“I got you,” Lance breathes.

Keith gives a weak smile. It’s not much but his words do make him feel a little better. He turns and lowers his lips to Lance’s crown for a goodnight kiss and finally closes his eyes for bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ULAZ MAKES AN APPEARANCE (He's my favey)
> 
> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 17, 2017

Shiro’s supposed to come out today and everyone eagerly awaits his return.

The ships not the same without Shiro walking around and talking with everyone. His well timed advice and support is sorely missed. And the team is tired of seeing that distressing look on his face inside the healing pod. Even now he looks like he's having a nightmare and they want nothing more than to get him out of there.

When the pod opens, Shiro nearly tumbles out into their arms. He looks upset, his brow furrowed as his eyes squint open against the light.

“The Galra…they're not…Pidge I need another scan…My arm. It has coordinates…” Shiro winces as he tries to explain. His voice goes serious as the room becomes deathly quiet. “We may have Galra allies.”

They spend the next hour hooking Shiro up to a computer and searching for this data.

Allura voices her already very vocal opinion on this matter. Galra are not to be trusted, ever. But then Keith brings to light Zarkon’s origin as the Black Paladin with far more snark than necessary, so much so that Lance sense’s some animosity between the Princess and him. But it dissipates quickly enough.

Regardless of his current predicament, Keith's inclined to agree that the Galra shouldn't be trusted immediately without verification, without proof of their benevolence. Sure, he's Galra but that doesn't mean they should be believed too readily. They have too many enemies to go extending olive branches to just anyone because they say they’re good.

That’s how people get stabbed in the back.

But the notion is intriguing. Galra allies. A galra who's not trying to kill them at every given opportunity. A way inside Zarkon’s ranks. A way to finally get some answers. Keith sighs wistfully. It's almost too much to hope for so he puts it out of his head.

They're about to chalk it up to a pain induced dream when Pidge finds something. There is a location hidden in all that mess. It takes them to a xanthorium cluster. Upon arrival, it looks empty except for the explosive crystals but Shiro is adamant. It must mean something so he insists they wait.

“Do you really think there are good Galra out there?” Keith asks Shiro on the bridge after everyone’s dispersed. Their leader stares into the xanthorium field, determined.

“There must be. Ulaz saved my life,” he says.

“But how do you know for sure that it’s not a trap? One good Galra doesn’t redeem the rest,” Keith frowns.

What if there is no going back to a time where Galra girls had flowers lovingly put in their hair in the marketplace? To kisses between different races and happy family reunions? To peaceful relations between different planets? What if they can’t go back to gentle smiles and hearty feasts?

Zarkon has ruined everything...for the universe and even for his own people. He’s poisoned it all.

“One bad Galra doesn’t condemn the remaining to villainy,” Shiro shakes his head.

“What if you end up trusting the wrong one?” Keith asks, crossing his arms and thumbing them for comfort. What if they trust one and they turn out just as bad? What if it’s a natural state of being? What if it happens to Keith? The thought brings back a memory with a shudder.

**_You fight like my Galra soldiers._ **

“We barely made it out of our last encounter with Zarkon,” Shiro reminds him though he needn’t bother. “We need allies desperately and we can’t make them if we treat everyone like the enemy. We have to extend a hand before balling it into a fist.”

Keith nods but still has doubts. Shiro’s natural kindness can easily be manipulated and that worries Keith. Shiro sees good in anyone making him vulnerable to deception. All it takes is one enemy getting close enough...one wrong move and everything they’ve worked for goes down in flames with one of them being the first casualty.

Keith’s going to have to be extra vigilant if he’s going to protect them all.

*****

The alarms go off! Intruder alert!

All the paladins book it down to the halls to head them off. Lance is first up, pulling out his gun and ready to fire, when he comes upon the stranger. He’s standing stock still. Was he waiting for him? That’ll be his first mistake, Lance thinks.

He’s fast. Too fast.

Lance excels at those moving targets but he can’t keep up. The guy runs up and knocks him off kilter as he passes him. He even avoids the second volley of rounds with little effort.

He easily hops over Pidge like she’s an olympic hurdle, giving her his back. She takes the shot with her bayard, certain it’ll hit its mark but he catches it with ease. And then promptly drags her light body down the halls where Hunk almost shoots the both of them.

Keith’s up and he’s not about to let this guy get past him.

He almost runs directly into him, ducking as he passes and turning on a dime to chase him down. Keith’s hope is that dragging Pidge will slow him down but he avoids his first strike. Then a second one misses as they turn the corner. Pidge pulls hard and Keith bounds off the wall for a sweeping strike from above.

Damn, Keith grits his teeth.

He blocks it easily with the weapon on his back. A symbol glows brightly on its blade. Keith’s eyes widen in recognition. That’s--

The enemy knocks Keith’s bayard from his grasp and it flies down the hall, coming to a stop far from him. Weaponless but not defenseless, Keith raises his fists. He’ll punch this guy if he has to! But he pulls and throws Pidge into him. When Keith rebounds, angry and ready to try again, he flips and throws him into Hunk and Lance with a grunt.

This guy...he’s unstoppable!

But Shiro shows and gets the drop on him. Diving in with that glowing hand before the stranger can strike. Their weapons are so close to each other and the others wait on baited breath for the next move.

The enemy abates and lowers his weapon. They all stare as he reveals his face to them. Shiro looks shocked but recognizes him and calls out his name just before Allura slams him into a wall and off the ground with her immense strength. He’s cuffed and Allura insists they take him to the common room to interrogate.

There’s a lot of conversation about what to do about him.

Shiro wants to trust him. No one else does, Allura being the loudest of those in opposition. They need allies within the Galra and suddenly one shows up out of the blue? Keith wants to believe, badly, that this Ulaz is trustworthy but it feels too convenient.

Ulaz eyes him for a second and narrows his eyes a little, as if studying something. Then the look isn’t so much recognition as it is acknowledgement. A lingering acknowledgement that makes Keith feel...discovered. Can he tell?

Keith takes a deep breath disguised as annoyance to test the air. If he can smell Lance from across the ship, surely he can detect foreign smells as well. Allura’s perfume...on Shiro. Food in Hunk’s pocket. Lance’s--wait, there is a different smell. A subtle musk, almost imperceptible but...it must be Ulaz. He’s never smelt it on the ship before.

Does he...Does Keith smell like a Galra too?

Ulaz earns a modicum of trust when they pilot into the cluster and through a wormhole to arrive at the base. It proves he isn’t lying. They don’t explode and there really is a base hidden in that death trap. The Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon.

They trust him enough to allow Ulaz to return to his base to send his people a message. Keith has to go, wants to, and is the first to his offer his lion as transport. Lance remains as someone needs to stay with the ship. The other paladins all pile in and fly their way over.

The smell is more noticeable in close quarters. Ulaz definitely has a smell to him. And if Keith can smell him, he can definitely smell Keith. But he says nothing, only relaying information on The Blades of Marmora and how they’re working to take down the tyrant Zarkon. The distaste with which Ulaz spits out Zarkon’s name suggests there is no loyalty between them, allowing them to trust the newcomer more.

Amazing. There really are Galra out there that aren’t devoted to Zarkon in this age.

The Base is smaller than it looks. Just an outpost. Capable of housing maybe a dozen soldiers at any given time but able to run efficiently with just one member. Pidge is thrilled to look around and study the layout and design choices while Ulaz relays more important information to Shiro about the help they’ve already received from the Blades.

Ulaz’s sword catches his eye again. Reminds him of a kukri but with some stark design differences. Efficient. The bent blade shape allows for more force without needing to angle the wrist. Harder hits, easily capable of cleaving through bone. He could have killed them if he wanted to.

It looks like his dagger, well the symbol does anyway.

“What’s that weapon you carry?” Keith asks, his voice soft and hesitant.

Ulaz takes it off his back and holds it out for Keith to examine more closely as he explains its purpose. Ceremonial but functional. Every member carries one. Keith’s father gave the dagger to him when it was just a kid. But he wasn’t Galra which means...his mother must have left it to him.

His Galra mother.

Keith feels ill again. How much more doesn’t he know?

“Keith, you okay?” Hunk asks when he sways a little.

“Just...a little lightheaded,” Keith admits, his mouth dry.

“I have water and the like in the med bay. If you’d follow me,” Ulaz extends a long arm towards the door.

This is his chance to talk to Ulaz alone. To ask questions. Keith nods and follows him to a small room. There’s a counter, some containment units high on the wall, and a single chair. It's barely more than a closet.

Keith’s on his guard. One on one is the perfect opportunity to kill a paladin and render Voltron incapable of forming. At least for a time. Until they find someone to replace him. Which is time enough to screw over everyone in the known universe. Keith’s hand stays near his weapon, ready to draw if he needs to.

Ulaz merely reaches up into a cabinet, rummages around and pulls a pouch down. Looks a little like a capri sun but solid silver. Ulaz tears the corner and passes it to Keith.

“Drink this,” Ulaz nods.

“What is it?” Keith eyes it suspiciously.

“A liquid created by the empire decapheebs ago. It hydrates as water does but infused within are vital vitamins, minerals, and the calories necessary to energize a depleted soldier,” Ulaz explains. Keith drinks it, while bland it does make his head feel better.

“Galra need this don’t they? High metabolism,” Keith nods, remembering. Ulaz nods as Keith drinks all of it down in record time.

“Yes. A high metabolism among other things. They are for emergencies. Most of the Galra within the Blades and Zarkon’s army take these,” Ulaz pulls down a small bottle of pills and shakes them. “A capsule to lower the metabolic rate and supply the body with a slow release of nutrients, made common once the Galra became a space faring race. It makes long distance travel more manageable. Perhaps you should consider taking some yourself, young one.”

The implication in Ulaz’s tone is unmistakable. He does know.

“You can tell, can’t you?” Keith asks, eying the hall for anyone who might interrupt. He sees no one.

“Any Galra close enough can tell,” Ulaz comments and places the bottle in Keith’s open hand. “Though it took me a moment. Equal parts smell and something less defined. I did not expect to see another Galra in Voltron but it’s strange...you look human.”

“My father is human,” Keith explains and looks over the bottle.

“That does not explain your appearance,” Ulaz tilts his head with curiosity. “My own mother was not Galra yet...the features are clear.”

Keith looks down the hall again before stepping over to the sink. He pulls off his glove and washes his hands to reveal the purple underneath. Ulaz doesn’t look like he knows what to make of it and says as much. For something like this to happen so late in Keith’s life is odd. Ulaz has neither the equipment nor the medical knowledge to explain such a thing.

It’s disappointing but he can hardly be mad about it. Galra aren’t exactly lining up to make friends with Voltron. The chances of finding an ally is slim enough without factoring in the chance that they might be a doctor and specifically one that understands the mixed race biology of Galra and humans.

So Ulaz isn’t going to be as much help in this matter as he hoped he’d be.

“It only started happening a little while ago,” Keith admits as he stares at his purple hand and flexes his fingers, two of which are turning purple at the knuckle now. He can reapply when they return. “Up until then, I thought...I thought I was human.”

“I imagine it is shocking to discover your heritage in such a way. You must have many questions,” Ulaz bows his head. “As you are Shiro’s friend and a member of Voltron, I will do my best to assist in any way I can.”

‘What should he know about being Galra’ seems too vague a question. From what Ulaz has told him the pills will help curb his metabolism and hunger by extension. Should even lessen instances of him feeling faint by providing his body with nutrients vital to Galra health, something that must be lacking in the food on the ship. So that’s helpful. If Ulaz isn’t sure how or why this is happening to him asking how to slow it down or stop it would be pointless.

“Ever since the change started...I’ve been feeling…” Keith sighs and shakes his head. “Feeling more? It’s a weird thing to say. Everyone feels. I guess what I mean is--it’s stronger, the feelings.”

Ulaz simply blinks, not certain what Keith’s asking. Keith has to be more clear and this is going to be embarrassing. He barely knows this guy but he’s the only Galra who’s not shooting at them. It’s now or never. Keith looks away, a blush arriving on his cheeks.

“Do Galra...go into heat? Or anything like that?” Keith mumbles. “Cause my partner and I--”

“You have already chosen a partner?” Ulaz’s face softens. There’s almost a smile.

“Chosen? No, I mean. We’re...we’re just,” Keith bumbles and stutters but moves on. “I’ve been having some strong feelings about him. I wanted to know if that’s normal human stuff or weird Galra stuff.”

Ulaz nods in understanding and pulls down another drink for Keith. The red paladin gladly takes the second pouch, tearing it open and gulping heartily. The beverage tastes just as plain but drinking it brings him even more relief.

“It is a Galra trait. It’s hard to imagine a single Galra who does not know this but your circumstances are unique,” Ulaz sighs. “The Galra, no matter their percentage, feel their emotions very deeply. Pain, anger, happiness, sadness, passion. They are not simply feelings, they are driving forces for us. Which is why we must be careful when allowing them reign.”

“Careful? It’s dangerous?” Keith frowns.

“Only in extremes,” Ulaz shakes his head. “After all, love is not dangerous until it turns to obsession. Neither is trust until it becomes naivety. Even ambition is useful until it distorts into greed and a hunger for power.”

Keith lowers his eyes and mumbles, “Zarkon.”

“Yes. We exhibit the emotions we experience with more fervor. In a time of war the Galra feel an excess of frustration and dissatisfaction but mostly fear. Zarkon takes advantage of these souls. Uses their terror to his own ends,” Ulaz says, sadness in his voice. “And because the fear is so strong in them, they will do all they can to stop you to prevent becoming victims of his retribution.”

Keith clenches his jaw, feeling his temper flare up. With so much against them how can they fight back? The Galra empire is practically unstoppable. Zarkon is--

“Fear not, young one,” Ulaz almost smiles again. He places his large hand gently on Keith’s shoulder and bends down. “Galra are not the only ones fueled by their emotions. From what I have witnessed from your very own leader, humans are a force to be reckoned with. When bolstered by the right emotion one can do anything. Conquer and enslave a universe or free it from the hands of tyranny.”

Ulaz sounds like he believes it. With all his heart. He believes justice can and will be done through their efforts. That Voltron will save everyone.

Alarms go off. Something has breached the perimeter. Keith shoves his glove back on and runs with Ulaz to the bridge. A robeast and it tracked them to their location! How is this possible?

Keith entertains the thought, for only a second, that Ulaz ratted them out. All that nice talk about fighting for the universe being just a smokescreen. But then why would he wait to attack?

It doesn’t matter, they don’t have time for finger pointing right now. They have to get back to the castle and to their lions before it can find them.

*****

The battle is arduous and taxing on everyone but especially on Shiro. After Ulaz sacrifices himself their leader stares on with horrified shock. No one says anything as Voltron just hangs there in space, not moving.

Once they separate and park themselves in their respective hangers everyone goes about their ways, content to avoid talking about what just happened.

Pidge goes to the kitchen to study the data Ulaz gave her on Galra prisoners. Hunk works on a new recipe near her to help in anyway he can. Lance tells everyone he’s going to take a nap. Keith gives no indication he’s going to join him and instead goes to look for Shiro knowing he’s gotta be hurting.

His friend died.

They said all those things about Ulaz. They put him in cuffs like a prisoner of war. Treated him with such disrespect and distrust. Accused him of being a traitor. And he turned around and saved all their lives because a future where Voltron saves the universe was more important to him than his own life.

Did he have a family? A spouse? Children?

Keith finds Shiro sitting on the bridge. All the lights dimmed and staring out in the starry expanse at the place Ulaz died. His fingers entwined and cupping his chin, a contemplative look on his face. Keith’s seen it before. Running scenarios, torturing himself with ‘what ifs’.

“Sorry we doubted Ulaz, Shiro. He saved all our lives,” Keith stands next to him.

“I still have so many questions,” Shiro whispers sadly.

Keith understands that sentiment better than Shiro can know.

Why didn’t he ask more important questions? About the Blades. About his mother. Would Ulaz have known her? He guesses it depends on how big the organization is. He could have learned what she was like.

How tall was she? Did she have long hair? Was it dark like his or white like Ulaz’s? Golden eyes? Or maybe a tail?

Did she like looking at the stars? Or sleeping in the shade? Was White Fang really her favorite book?

What was her name?

So many questions and now no way to get answers. Allura enters and maybe he comes off a tad unnecessarily antagonistic when she suggests once again that Ulaz was responsible for their discovery. Sure it was his first thought too but his sacrifice proves he would never. He’s not even sorry for snapping a little at her, even when she steadies her glare and responds coldly back.

For all she knows, Zarkon was tracking him. Who knows? It could be anything! Maybe Zarkon can sense his own kind? Or he’s tracking the Blades? Some ship seeing them pass could have ratted them out. For her to just assume--it burns him up enough that he leaves before he can say something he regrets. He stomps off to the training deck feeling so--so angry.

_They are not simply feelings, they are driving forces for us._  
_Which is why we must be careful when allowing them reign._

He doesn’t bother going back to the room to change out of his armor or reapply the cover up on his hand. His gauntlet covers it sufficiently enough for now. He’ll shower and take care of it later after he beats the ever loving shit out of the training dummy. A couple of times.

It’s the healthiest way he knows how to deal with this without hurting someone.

“Training exercise, Gladiator, Level 5B,” Keith breathes in deep and brandishes his sword.

He can’t let his anger get the best of him. And he doesn’t want it sticking around so that he ends up biting someone’s head off. Instead, he’ll just work himself through drill after drill until he’s too tired to be mad.

The thing is he likes Allura. She’s a strong woman who doesn’t let anyone keep her down. He even admires her tenacity in battle. What she’s accomplished as the pilot for the entire castle of lions is extraordinary. But her steadfast and stubborn view against the very notion a Galra could be good irks him.

What would she say if she knew? If she knew he was Galra and not only pretty good but a paladin fighting against Zarkon...would she stop trusting him too? Start claiming he’s going to betray them? Claim that he’s just as evil as Zarkon, simply because they share blood?

“I hope...not,” he pants, his body starting feel tired after an hour of running around.

The training deck door opens and Lance enters, cheerfully waving while cracking his neck. Must have had a nice nap. Keith manages a smile despite his mood and approaches, sheathing his weapon.

“Sleep well?” Keith asks.

“Nah, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ulaz,” Lance tries to maintain the smile but it sinks a little. “He’s the first person we knew who died. I don’t know why, but I hadn’t thought about how dangerous what we’re doing is until now.”

“It’s a war Lance,” Keith levels his eyes at him.

“Yeah, I know,” Lance sighs. “Pidge is pretending she didn’t see it, hiding behind her computer. Hunk is keeping busy in the kitchen, acting like nothing happened. Shiro’s...well, he’s been aware of the dangers for a while and Ulaz dying still caught him off guard.”

“Allura couldn’t care less about Ulaz. Coran won’t say anything at all, not willing to take a side,” Keith adds.

Everyone’s handling his death differently. Keith can see on Lance’s face that he’s troubled. And the only thing Lance worries about is his family. His biggest fear shows itself easily to Keith. Lance’s worried he might not make it home and his parents will never know why.

“What about you?” Lance asks, looking up with concerned eyes.

How does he feel? Keith straightens up and takes a breath. He unsheathes the bayard again and turns back to Lance.

“I feel motivated,” Keith announces. “I’m not going to let Ulaz’s death be in vain. He saved us. And I’m going to make sure it was worth it. We won’t lose to Zarkon again.”

Lance blinks and perks up. It’s kind of inspiring which makes Lance chuckle.

“Wow, you’re so cool,” Lance shakes his head with a laugh. “Show off.”

“I’m not going to let another single person die because I wasn’t strong enough,” Keith huffs, looking solemnly down at his blade. Not a civilian. Not an ally. Not their team. No more unwarranted deaths.

Lance approaches and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Buddy, you are way too emo. Lighten up,” Lance smirks. He pulls his bayard out of his pocket, and gestures it into a rifle. “Think I’ll practice too though. Can’t have you one-upping me when it’s time to kick Zarkon’s ass.”

Keith nods as they come to an agreement. They brawl with the Gladiator, try a few target practice rounds in which they share Lance’s rifle again, they even spar against each other.

When they fight Keith has a slight advantage in his armor but Lance is faster in his everyday clothes, so it evens out. Even though they’re trying to take the matches seriously, Lance can’t help but insert his puerile humor.

“So what do I get if I win?” Lance slashes at Keith’s legs with the standard sword. Keith easily dodges but Lance isn’t really trying to hit him anyway. “A little somethin’ somethin’?”

“Don’t call it ‘somethin’ somethin’’ Lance,” Keith rolls his eyes. “Also, what makes you think you’ll win?”

“You’re gonna throw the match aren’t you?” he suggests with a wink. “Let your boyfriend win?”

“You wish,” Keith shakes his head with a smirk.

Keith dives in with a swooping slash from above, one of his signature moves. Lance blocks it with a surprised laugh. He pushes back and strikes at Keith, hitting the blade a couple times so Keith decides to go defensive for a moment. He waits, bides his time, and then he spots it. An opening! He knocks away the practice sword with a clatter and gives a defiant stare.

If he were Zarkon, now would be the time for the killing blow.

“Ah, crap,” Lance glances at how far it’s landed. He laughs and shrugs. “Hand to hand? For fairness?”

“What for? You’re the one who lost your sword,” Keith blinks, unamused. “You think Zarkon cares about fighting fair?”

“Aw, come on Keith,” he whines. “You’re not Zarkon, ease up.”

At those words Keith’s body relaxes from his battle stance, he even lowers his weapon. Right. He doesn’t have to be like him even if sometimes it feels like the monster is in his head tormenting him.There’s more than blood that makes a person.

Being the same race is coincidence, being a dick is a choice.

“Fine,” Keith sighs and sheaths the bayard. He puts up his fists instead.

“Oh ho, you’re gonna get it now,” Lance hunkers down for a brawl. “I’ll have you know at the Garrison they called me the--woah!”

He narrowly misses getting hit in the face. Keith goes for another and Lance decides it’s probably not the best time to talk. Unless he wants to get socked in the mouth. Lance jumps back and beckons to Keith with a ‘come and get it’ wave.

A punch connects with Lance’s forearm. Decent block. Lance then strikes back. Keith deflects the fist and then his foot when Lance spins for kick. He’s gotten better at this. Last he checked Lance couldn’t fist fight his way out of a paper bag. While he is better, he’s still too hesitant to get in close.

“All talk no action,” Keith comments and he wishes he hadn’t.

Lance’s strike comes from out of nowhere, low and fast. Keith can’t avoid it and tumbles over to the side, his eyes wide and chin smarting from the blow. He recognizes the move and he’s not even mad about the bruise he knows is slowly forming.

“You practiced with Shiro,” Keith states but it sounds more like a question.

“I may have asked for some tips on how to trounce you in a fight after Arus,” Lance shrugs with a grin. “He wouldn’t tell me. So I asked again not too long ago for tips on how to defend myself and he said yes.”

Why didn’t he think of that? Shiro’s a great teacher. It’s been years since they sparred. Keith’s never won against him but he’s gotta have new moves to try out. He wonders when Lance ever found the time but his partner reads his mind before he has the chance to ask.

“Remember those three days where you ignored me?” Lance reminds him then gives him finger guns. “Boom baby.”

“Don’t call me baby,” Keith cringes.

They get back to the match and Keith keeps on his toes a little better. He’s not about to let Lance hit him again, at least not in the face.

Lance’s hits aren’t very hard in comparison, but he has better reach. Long arms and long legs that can hit from further. Despite not landing any substantial blows, Lance thinks he’s doing pretty well. Keith’s switched to defensive fighting again and if all of Lance’s kungfu movies are to be believed, that means someone thinks they’re losing.

If he can get Keith in a hold, he wins.

He goes for it and Keith snatches the hand firmly, not releasing it. Keith was waiting for it, smirk on his face.

“Uh oh,” Lance gulps just before Keith pulls and twists the arm behind him. Then pulls his body close, his other arm grappled snugly around his neck. He’s caught. Wiggling does little to help.

“You’re too impatient,” Keith muses triumphantly. “This feels familiar.”

“Ow, this really hurts Keith,” Lance winces, rather convincingly. Keith lets go quickly.

“Sorry, I wasn’t--”

“Gotcha!” Lance grins and tackles him to the ground while he’s off his guard. He immediately pins him down and sits on his chest, smiling victoriously. Keith’s face sours into a pout. “I win.”

“You cheated,” Keith huffs.

“What happened to ‘do you think Zarkon’s gonna play fair?’” Lance mocks him with a decent impression.

Keith just simmers, not pleased with being tricked.

“Wanna know why I won? I know your biggest weakness,” Lance says and looks around as if to make sure no one’s listening in, like it’s a secret he doesn’t want anyone else to know. He leans down, buries his nose in Keith’s mess of hair, and takes a deep breath. “Mmmmm...you smell good, even though you’re sweaty.”

“My weakness Lance,” Keith reminds him but Lance is nibbling on his ear. It’s making him less mad at being fooled and instead inclined to fool around. Damn his thick armor.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lance grins with ear in his teeth. “Me. It’s me. I’m your greatest weakness.”

“You wish,” Keith smirks.

“Aw geez get a room you two,” Pidge groans. “First the common room. Now here. Is no place sacred?”

Hunk and Pidge stand at the door, clad in their armor. They look like they’re about to start a little training of their own. Pidge frowns, annoyed and Hunk averts his eyes with a blush. How long have they been standing there? Not long.

“So are you gonna train with us? Or just keep sitting on Keith like a goose on an egg?” Pidge asks tilting her head.

“You’re the one who asked us to come after all,” Hunk adds.

“What?” Keith raises a brow at Lance.

“I saw you training in here earlier. So before I came in I asked the others to join whenever they finished their stuff. So we could all let off some steam together,” Lance reveals. “But I thought we’d have more time alone. Ah, well.”

Lance gets up and pulls Keith to his feet just as Shiro comes in with his helmet under his arm. He still looks terrible, his eyes somber, but he’s smiling...and smelling like Allura’s perfume again. At least he has someone to confide in.

“Alright team, ready for some drills?” Shiro secures his helmet on. Pidge and Hunk follow suit. “Lance, you might want to change into your armor.”

“Back in a flash,” Lance shoots his finger guns and takes off.

“Lance says you’ve been training a while, Keith,” Shiro comments. “If you’re tired, we’ll understand if you want to get some rest. You’ve more than earned it.”

He considers it. A shower sounds nice and he needs to apply more cover up before falling into bed with Lance. But...he feels a second wind flowing through him. Plus, a chance to spar with Shiro again? Can’t pass that up. He picks up his helmet from the ground and pops it on.

“No, I’m always up for more,” Keith cracks his neck and stretches.

Hunk snickers a joke and Pidge high fives him.

“Guys,” Shiro warns them in that parenting tone.

“Sorry Dad,” Pidge and Hunk apologize together.

Shiro doesn’t look like he much approves of the name but says nothing as Lance returns fully outfitted. With everyone ready Shiro leads them into some practice, starting with warm ups.

They do a couple of team exercises to take down the gladiator. Through excellent communication they bring him down multiple times. Lance does a few target practice rounds with Hunk while Pidge tries to trip them up. Keith and Shiro do a couple rounds of hand to hand in which Keith graciously accepts each defeat.

Eventually the two of them take a break to cool off, sitting against the wall and drinking water. It feels like old times and the nostalgia gets to Keith making him smile.

“You look happy Keith,” Shiro comments.

“Uh, yeah,” Keith shrugs and looks at Lance across the way.

He can’t really complain, at least, not about him and Lance. The strange and now painful physical changes in his body however he could complain about at length but not to the team. And not to Shiro. So a change of subject is in order.

“We’re okay. How are things with…?”

Keith never thought Shiro capable of blushing.

“Uh, things are...nice,” Shiro mumbles. “Allura’s very…patient.”

Shiro seems hesitant to talk. Probably because Keith’s younger than him. And it’s weird to talk about relationships with someone you’ve treated like a little brother. The others don’t seem to be paying attention to them, too busy messing with the training programs to change the target shapes to Zarkon’s face.

“Patient?” Keith repeats.

“Thanks to my upbringing and my career...my interpersonal skills are…” Shiro wavers on finding a word.

“Lacking?”

“Practically, nonexistent,” Shiro chuckles pathetically. “Spent so much time focusing on becoming an officer that I never learned to...uh…”

Shiro flushes again, too self-conscious to spell it out. Keith doesn’t need him too.

“Luckily, Allura’s been very...forgiving of my lapses in experience,” Shiro sighs and rubs his face. “Sorry, this is not something I should be telling you.”

“I’m not ten anymore Shiro,” Keith shakes his head. “None of us are kids, not anymore. You can talk to us. About anything, not just Voltron stuff.”

Shiro smiles and nods before ruffling Keith’s head of hair. Now it really feels like old times. Like when Shiro would visit the shack out in the middle of the desert to make sure Keith was eating after his father died. Bringing him books, teaching him about aircraft and encouraging him to join the garrison. If it weren’t for Shiro there’s no telling where he’d be.

“When did you get so mature? What happened to the scampy kid that used to start fights and break garrison property?” Shiro asks, his eyes soft.

“I still fight and break things,” Keith shrugs and then smirks. “My targets are just more appropriate now.”

Shiro can’t disagree with that and laughs heartily for the first time in days.

The others call over to them. Pidge wants to do another round against the gladiator. There’s a tactic she wants to try out. Lance and Hunk are trying to hold in bubbling laughter but failing. When Shiro agrees she activates the new combat dummy, now sporting a hologrammed cartoony face of Zarkon. The three of them burst into giggles and tears of hilarity when it starts making angry gurgle noises

Guess in some ways they’re still kids.

Keith reluctantly backs out of the final scrap with the team. He really needs some time to himself.

He takes off for his old room for a hot shower, reapplication of cover up over the spreading blotches, then a quick snack between meals. As he’s grabbing a fruit from the bowl he suddenly remembers the pills Ulaz gave him and pulls it from one of his armor compartments.

He eyes the tiny bottle’s contents curiously.

Suppresses the metabolism of Galra. And other stuff. He wishes he’d paid closer attention to what was said. Should help with his cravings and the few instances of dizziness when his body lacks enough of the specific nutrients it needs. Sure would be nice if it slowed down the transformation as well but he doesn’t count on it. With a sigh he twists the top and dry swallows a pill.

Now all he can do is wait and see if it helps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter jumps around A LOT and gleans over much of the canon occurrences.
> 
> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 17, 2017

Who knew they could receive a distress signal through computer programmed spores? Other than Pidge, that is. Only she would think to even investigate. The whole process is so over Lance's head it literally hurts to hear Pidge talk about it. At least Keith looks just as lost as he is when she goes on and on about Turing.

Keith’s been more relaxed lately.

Lance has been trying not to dwell on it but there was a point where he was pretty sure Keith was coming down with something. But within days he was in better spirits. Though he isn’t eating much at meals anymore. When Lance doesn’t eat it's because something’s bothering him, he hopes the same isn’t true for Keith.

How would he know? The guy’s so good at hiding what’s on his mind and prying just makes him mad.

Well, if he is feeling down it isn’t affecting how he behaves around Lance. Keith sticks close to him inside and outside of their room. Whether it’s curling up in bed while reading or listening to Lance’s nature soundtrack, Keith’s been receptive to Lance’s frequent interruptions into his space, never bothered where he would have been in the past. He even lets Lance lean on him in the common room when everyone is gathered.

So he guesses things are good.

Lance doesn’t have time to ponder it further. They’ve found the origin of the distress call which means they have another planet to save. Onwards to Olkarion.

*****

Ryner has been elected the new leader of their people and as a gesture of friendship, she has invited Team Voltron to a small banquet in their honor. Allura can’t decline the summons as it would be in poor taste to turn them down. Plus, it’s a welcome opportunity to eat, converse, and share information amongst new people.

They host it in one of the less damaged buildings but the Olkari are quick to make repairs with that special ability of theirs. In less than a varga, they’ve got the place looking respectable again. The design is elegant without being complex and it’s got Pidge making starry eyes at every sleek line.

Too bad they can’t see the trees from here.

Keith is going to miss Olkarion. Something about the forests and the tranquility of the place just resonates with him. Sure the fight was exhilarating and it’s great that they have a whole planet of aliens to add to their growing list of allies but...nothing beats the peaceful feeling of being surrounded by nature. The smell of trees and dirt. The sound of insects chirping and the dying warmth of a sunset.

“The sunset,” Keith hums pensively.

*****

Lance tells a joke to a group of young Olkari and as he hoped they burst with laughter. He’s getting better at this. Only an hour of talking and already he knows what jokes will hit home with the Olkari.

Everyone seems to be having a good time. All of the Olkari want to talk with different members of Voltron. There haven’t been this many smiling faces in one place since the Balmera. It’s good to know they’re doing something right, that their efforts aren’t for nothing.

Pidge is the MVP tonight with a small crowd surrounding her. She’s sketching out some designs on one of her portable holo-screens and taking notes in the margins at the Olkari’s suggestions. No one could pull her away from them as neither side would hear of it.

Shiro and Allura stick close and speak with all the dignitaries. Reassuring them that Voltron is here to help and any assistance they can provide the team will be most appreciated.

Shiro looks relaxed at her side and for a second Lance thinks he sees him gaze adoringly upon Allura as she bends down to address a child. When she finishes he puts out a hand to help her to her feet again. She takes it and her hand lingers in his for a minute or two before Shiro realizes she’s not letting it go. He can’t take it away without looking strange so he submits to her holding onto him with a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.

“Hmmm…that’s new,” Lance raises a brow and drinks from his cup. It’s bitter, lik tea that’s been steeped too long, but at least its better than the Nunvil from Arus.

Hunk is putting on a food puppet show for a group of Olkari children and has even managed to construct a little Voltron from vegetables for them. They watch enraptured as he tells how Pidge saved the day with her vine ray. This results in the little ones running excitedly to Pidge to meet her, to which Hunk shrugs with a smile and eats his puppets.

Where is--

There’s Keith. Lance almost expected him to be leaning on a wall somewhere, brooding and quiet. Waving off people trying to talk to him. But instead, Lance finds him engaged in conversation with a single Olkari.

To be more accurate, it looks as though Keith is intently listening as the Olkari describes something, complete with gestures and pointing towards the door. Keith looks at the door, confirms with a nod and says something to which the Olkari gives him a bow and toddles off to join another group.

Lance suddenly loses sight of him in the throng of Olkari. He keeps looking for a flash of that signature red but can’t seem to find it. With a sigh and shrug, he gives up. At least, Keith’s talking to people. It’s better than hiding out somewhere and being unsociable.

How late is it? Should they be getting back soon?

He nearly yelps and drops his drink when he feels a hand grip his arm.

“Keith! What are you-”

“Follow me,” Keith says seriously and tugs him away by his arm. “Quick.”

“Where are-”

“You’ll see,” Keith interrupts, pulling him through the crowd and out the door.

Keith seems to know where he’s going. He pulls Lance through hallways, up elevators that weren’t even functional an hour ago, and down even more hallways. The further they go the fewer people there are, getting quieter and quieter until the only sound is their footsteps.

Keith stops at an intersection, contemplates a second, and then tugs Lance again in another direction.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Lance asks, still holding tight on his drink which keeps threatening to fall from his hand each time Keith pulls him in a new direction.

“Yeah,” Keith huffs. “Left...right...then the second elevator.”

Keith begins anew and eventually they reach another elevator. None of the numbers look like anything Lance has ever seen before but Keith immediately hits a button that looks like a line with a square on the end. Keith checks the time impatiently and Lance just looks on with suspicion.

Where is he taking him?

“We don’t have time for--”

“We’ll be there soon. I want to show you something,” Keith tells him.

The elevator stops and they hop off. They run into another Olkari to which Keith takes Lance’s drink and hands it off to him. Then promptly continues to push him varying directions from behind.

“Cover your eyes,” Keith tells him.

“Wh-”

“Just do it, Lance,” Keith insists with a huff. Is that a blush he’s trying to hide?

Lance sighs and covers them while Keith directs him further. They step up on something and it comes to life with a vibrating hum. A lift? Something opens above them and Lance feels the warmth of outside. Are they on the roof?

Once the lift stops moving, Keith pulls him off of it and turns him. Then he takes a good couple of steps away.

“Can I open my eyes yet?” Lance asks.

“Uh, yeah. Go ahead,” Keith tells him.

He blinks them open to find he 1) is definitely on the highest rooftop he’s ever been on and 2) looking at the most beautiful sunset he’s seen in months.

Pinks and oranges melting into one another. Coral and yellow clouds swirling together to make spirals. All of it above the sprawling forest. It’s breathtakingly gorgeous. Lance sinks slowly to the floor and sits, eyes never leaving the sun dipping into the distant trees.

For a second, Keith thinks he’s done this wrong.

Lance was so disappointed that they couldn’t watch the sunset at the beach. And before the spore fight he clashed with Pidge, claiming the ship’s seamless design had nothing on a sunset. He thought this would make Lance happy. Dances on the rooftop happy. But right now he looks almost sad.

Then Lance sniffs and wipes his eyes, confirming his thoughts.

“Lance,” Keith worries. If he knew it would make him cry…man, he knew he’d mess up something as simple as a thoughtful gesture. This dating thing is harder than it looks.

“It’s cool, I’m fine,” Lance assures him with a deep breath. “Sit with me?”

Keith takes the seat next to him and Lance puts an arm over his shoulder. He proceeds to describe the score the sunset deserves. He has a very specific system with which to grade sunsets based on color composition, ambient temperature, season, viewing location and clouds.

It’s very precise and as interesting as it is, Keith gets the feeling Lance is trying to distract him from the fact that his gesture brought him to tears and not smiley happy ones. Lance’s eyes still shimmer, ready to spill and his voice sounds weak like he’s trying too hard not to let it crack.

“Sorry,” Keith apologizes suddenly, interrupting the final average giving the sunset an 8.1 out of 10.

“Why? This is a great sunset,” Lance gestures to the scene before them. His lip trembles a little. “Definitely in my top 10.”

“You look ready to cry again,” Keith comments. He reaches over and wipes away a forming tear with his thumb to prove his point.

“No way, I’m...I’m totally...it’s great,” Lance falters and lowers his eyes.They’re brimming with tears now. He wipes his face with his forearm and bites his mouth closed.

“Lance,” Keith sighs and pulls him in so he can press his face into his chest. A few seconds of patting his back and the floodgates release and Lance crumples into his hold.

Lance cries hard, his hands gripped tight around Keith, unwilling to let go. He sobs and shudders, unable to form words for minutes. And every second is killing Keith. Before he disliked seeing Lance cry, now he hates it more than anything. It hurts him to see the tears, hear him weep, and feel him shake in his arms. Makes him want to cry himself.

“I want t-to go home K-Keith,” Lance blubbers. “I j-just...I want to go home…”

“I know,” Keith says, pressing his lips to the top of Lance’s head.

“I want to see my m-mom. My dad. I want to eat and t-talk with my cousins. I miss my sister, my cousins,” he whines. “I want to walk into the Pizza shack for Salsa Saturday and order three plates of garlic knots and eat and dance till I throw up.”

“It’ll happen,” Keith tells him, though he’s not sure. He can’t promise anything beyond the next hour and even then nothing is guaranteed. But he’s willing to lie if it’ll make Lance happy. If it’ll make him stop hurting like this.

“Yeah? You think?” Lance takes a slow cleansing breath to relax. It seems to be working.

“Yeah, we’ll defeat Zarkon, save the universe, and we’ll go back to Earth for the party,” Keith says, rubbing his back.

“I like the sound of that,” Lance perks up, his tears finally abating. “Have it at Veradara. Fantastic food. Games. The beach. Dancing all night. You’ll go, right?”

“Sure but...I can’t dance,” Keith admits.

“I’ll fix that. My parents won’t stand for it if you can’t even do a basic Salsa,” Lance chuckles, finally in better spirits. He takes Keith’s hand in his own and looks in his eyes. “Thanks for the sunset, Keith.”

Lance presses his lips to Keith’s for a warm bracing kiss. When they part Lance rummages through a pocket to pull out a small holo-screen. He takes a few shots of the sunset, for his family he says, before holding it out in front of his face for a selfie.

He snaps a few pictures at different angles for different lighting before scooting in real close to Keith to get one of the both of them. Lance takes the shot but frowns when he sees the result. No smile and he’s not even looking at the camera.

“What a gremlin,” Lance pouts. “I need mementos man. Good ones. I know you’re not used to smiling but you can do better than this.”

“Fine, fine. Take another one,” Keith sighs, managing a small smile.

Lance turns them around to get the sunset in the background and clicks. A good one with the two of them smiling. But it’s not quite good enough Lance comments as he messes with the settings. There’s a glare over Keith’s eyes. Red-eye or something. He turns off the flash and leans in again for a final attempt.

“Adjust position and lighting…” Lance mumbles but then leans in to whisper in Keith’s ear. He doesn’t know any Spanish but the tone comes off as...well, very passionate, to say the least.

With his lips to Keith’s flushed cheek, he snaps the photo. Lance then quickly hunches over the screen to look at the result with a giddy grin.

“Nice, gonna frame that one,” he laughs. “Art.”

“Whatever,” Keith rolls his eyes. “Let me see it.”

Lance passes it to him with a happy hum.

It’s surreal seeing himself with a blushing smile. So that’s what he looks like when he’s happy. It’s nothing like looking at himself in the mirror. But then, when he looks in the mirror it's to cover up his purple splotches and he doesn’t have much reason to smile then.

He looks at the previous picture, the one Lance said had a glare and it makes him frown. It reminds him of animal eyes in photographs. Another stark reminder that he is not all he seems.

“Why so sour?” Lance asks.

“Nothing,” Keith tells him as he deletes the bad one and sends a copy of the good picture to his helmet’s archives. “Thought I saw a zit on your face.”

“What?! Give me that!” Lance scrambles for the holo-screen, scrutinizing every detail. Finding nothing he sighs with relief and puts away the device.

They need to head back to the party to join the others. They get lost along the way, taking the wrong halls and getting off on the wrong floors before caving and asking for directions again. They make it back to the party in time for one more drink and Allura’s diplomatic speech.

Pidge is ready to leave despite all the Olkari friend’s she’s made and the things they’ve taught her. Allergies are getting the best of her and already she’s gotten a sunburn. It’s agreed that it’s time to go and the team gathers aboard the ship after Allura solidifies the alliance with the Olkari people by giving Ryner a communicator.

Keith walks up the ramp and looks over his shoulder wistfully at the forests of Olkarion.

A shame they have to leave already. He likes it here better than any planet they’ve been on since they started. Even better than Arus. Or the Balmera. He hopes they can come back when Voltron’s done saving the universe. Camping in a tree for a week sounds like a refreshing change to metal hallways, humming engines, and recycled air.

Keith looks out over the bridge with a disappointed sigh as Olkarion shrinks in the distance. Gone too soon.

Before they can even catch a breather alarms start going off. No time to relax as a fleet of Galra ships is right on top of them.

*****

At first he thought the Galra commandos retreating from Olkarion were to blame for the sudden arrival of Zarkon’s fleet. The team made an attempt to escape, and even though they popped out of the wormhole early they were sure there was enough time for them to rest and recuperate. Keith and Lance were even going to hit the pool for a bit. Maybe even finish up his lesson from Lance but just as they arrived the alarms went off again!

It doesn’t seem possible, as Lance pointedly shrieks. How can they have found them again so quickly?

They can’t make a large jump, though Coran is doing his best to get the teladuv working again. There are too many shattered lenses and not enough time to readjust all of the alignments.

Shiro mentions the idea of a tracking device but Allura debunks it just as quickly with a simple scan. Whatever Zarkon’s using it isn’t something planted on the ship. That’s when Keith has the thought again.

Can Zarkon track his own kind? Could Zarkon have figured out he was Galra through their fight?

After all, Ulaz figured it out and he’s only half Galra himself. Zarkon’s been alive for...ten thousand years. And he’s conquered almost all of the known universe. He’s got to have something up his sleeve that’s more than just strength and cunning.

What did Ulaz say gave Keith away? Something less defined? Does that mean...magic?

After a few more extremely close calls including a storm in space, Zarkon trying to reassert control over the Black Lion again, and having to hold scaltrite disks in place for lasers to strike so they can jump through another wormhole, they finally make it far enough to feel safe again. Well, some of them feel safer.

Allura looks distraught, certain she’s the cause of it all. Her logic is just as sound as his. Zarkon didn’t show up for the lions until after she woke from cryo. And now he keeps finding them.

For now, the distance between them and the fleet is enough to calm everyone. No one’s slept in over a quintent and it shows. Bags under their eyes, incessant yawning. Everyone needs some sleep. Pidge has already conked out in her chair leading Coran to pick her up and carry her to her room.

They can’t worry about everything right now, they need to just focus on sleep.

Keith’s already in the bed before Lance can finish washing his face. He’s turned over again, body tense, but his eyes are closed. Pretending to look asleep and failing. Lance says nothing about it. Figures he’s probably just as worried as the rest of them on this tracking business. He scoots on in and curls his arm around Keith’s chest.

“Night, Keith,” Lance yawns and noses into Keith’s hair with a sigh.

“Night, Lance,” Keith mumbles and grasps his hand.

*****

For three nights Keith can’t sleep well. He tosses and turns and wakes up in panting gasps from nightmares. Most of them feature Zarkon enlisting him in his ferocious Galra army against his will. His deep, daunting voice filling him with fear. Claiming there’s no escape from his destiny.

**_I can find you anywhere, my Galra soldier._ **

  
The other prevalent dreams that keep coming back are ones in which he gets his team killed. The whole team. Some by the hands of Zarkon himself. Others through defeat on the battlefield with enemy ships. All of the dreams grisly with the smell of smoke, metal, and blood...and all because Zarkon keeps finding them before they’re ready. One by one, every paladin falls.

And they all end with Zarkon thanking him for his service to the empire.

He can’t sit around like this forever. He needs to do something.

“Keith?” Lance asks groggily, feeling for him in the bed.

“Sorry, can’t sleep,” Keith tells him while slipping on his armor. He doesn’t want to lie but he has to. “Gonna go for a walk.”

“Want me to come?” Lance yawns, never opening his eyes.

“No, get some sleep.”

Lance doesn’t argue. He just rolls over and burrows back into his pillow, quickly falling back asleep.

Keith’s going to leave the ship tonight and he doesn’t want Lance stopping him. He was serious when he told the team he thought Zarkon was tracking them through him. It’s simple enough to test. If he leaves and Zarkon follows him, then they’ll know for certain it’s him. Easy. And he can pilot away in the pod fast enough to keep from being captured.

But what about after that?

He shoulders a duffel he’s stuffed with a few things. It feels weird putting a bunch of his belongings in the bag as if he’s never going to return. Keith then frowns, his stomach sinking as if filled with lead. If it is true, then he really shouldn’t return. It puts everyone in mortal danger.

This could feasibly be the last time he sees Lance.

Keith kneels by the bed to look at him. He wants to commit it all to memory, just in case. He doesn’t want to be right about Zarkon tracking him, but if he is...Keith leans down and caresses Lance on his cheek. Lance simply smiles with a sigh.

To keep Lance safe...he must go.

He isn’t sure what to say. Lance would never remember anyway. But Keith does have the idea to leave a written note inside the blue helmet.

All he can manage to scribble is ‘I’m sorry’ as he realizes nothing he says will alleviate the sting of him leaving but...he deserves something and it’s better than nothing at all. He adds nothing else but a signature and leaves the room, trying his best to ignore the wracking pain in his chest.

*****

This is awkward.

At first, he was glad to have company. Having someone with him quelled the horrible feeling of practically abandoning the ship and everyone on it. Of abandoning Lance. But now he’s thinking about the irony of their situation.

An Altean and a Galra take off in a ship...sounds like the start of a joke Lance would make up.

He wonders again what she’d say if she knew? Not that he’s about to out himself on a confined ship, in the middle of space. Especially with the knowledge that she can break a door down with one charge. So as to not think about it he tries reading instead. He pulls out the book Lance made him and starts to read.

“What is that?” Allura asks curiously, just as bored as he is.

“A story,” Keith smiles and turns the page. “I read it a lot as a kid. It’s about a wolf and the suffering he endures simply because he was born in the wild. He never believed he could be anything but untameable and violent, humans even used that savagery to make money off him and revel in his torment. But once shown love and compassion he becomes a loyal beast, that uses his natural power to protect those he loves and lives the rest of his life in peaceful days.”

Allura stares at him, and for a moment he thinks he’s said too much.

“It sounds riveting. What’s a wolf?” she adds.

Keith snorts and flips through a few pages to one of the four illustrations in the entire novel to show her. She looks on with interest, commenting that it looks like a small Klanmüirl with a longer snout and tail. He has to take her word for it since he has no idea what a Klanmüirl is.

“The real book is in my bag. Shiro gave it to me when I was ten,” Keith remembers. “My first copy is long gone.”

It was just after his father died. He was starting fights at his school. Breaking chairs and desks. Beating up kids who just looked at him the wrong way. He even tried to fight a teacher. Shiro was always there to scold him, treat his scrapes, and offer solid advice.

“You’re very close aren’t you?” Allura gently smiles.

“I don't’ have any siblings. And my parents...” Keith frowns solemnly and Allura looks on with sympathy. “Shiro knew my dad. He visited all the time when he was a teenager. Then he took care of me after he passed. I was less than grateful at the time.”

“He’s a good man,” Allura nods fondly.

There’s a long silence between them for a while as Keith reads. Allura just gazes out at the surrounding stars and periodically sighs. Waiting for a ship to materialize out of a wormhole is boring work. Keith eventually finishes the last chapter while Allura starts unbraiding her hair for the third time. She reminds him of pining damsels in regency books.

“You miss Shiro?” Keith wonders. “He probably misses you too.”

“What?” she flushes. “You think so? How do you know? He’s so reticent to speak.”

“It’s his training,” says Keith. “He’s used to decisions making or breaking missions. The wrong answer has irreversible consequences. He doesn’t want to say or do the wrong thing.”

“Oh,” Allura nods. “Oh, I see! That explains why he--”

Before it can get any further than that Coran comes through on the coms, asking them where they are. They explain their motives and it’s not a satisfying enough explanation for Shiro. He’s practically begging for them to return, the worry in his tone evident. Allura has a flash of guilt on her face for a moment but it replaces itself with determination. Then the coms fizzle out with static interference.

Nothing to do but wait again. And hope Lance isn’t the next one to communicate with them.

He might abandon this idea altogether if he calls through, pleading him to come back. He doesn’t know how Allura managed it.

At this point, it’s been hours with no sign. Which is good he thinks. The longer they go without seeing a single ship the better.

Allura is glad for his company and he is too for the most part. It’s not until she goes into her ‘All Galra are the same’ tirade that he wishes it were someone else. Literally anyone else. He’d take a random Zarkon soldier at this point because at least then he could beat them into silence.

“One life means nothing to Zarkon,” she glares out into space as if the cause of her ire were right outside the glass. Keith can’t not say something with how his temper bubbles.

“It means something to me!” Keith nearly shouts. “ It means some of them are actually willing to help. And we could use all the help we can get!”

Allura’s not willing to listen, her stubbornness showing.

“Any offer of help from the Galra is merely a prelude to a trap,” she assures him, gritting her teeth. Her tone turns even more bitter. “I know all too well how quickly they turn.”

He is this close to saying it, to telling her. It’s on the tip of his tongue but he bites it back. Be patient. Don’t make rash decisions. He knows it will only make it worse and he’d rather sit in silence then yell for the next hour. So he retreats in his seat and lowers his voice.

“It just seems crazy to lump everyone together,” he offers and then turns away, not sure he can look at her without glaring.

There’s another awkward silence and Keith finds now to be a good time to reread his book, for probably the hundredth time in his life, just so he doesn’t have to engage in that conversation again.

She’s wrong, he knows she is. He’s tried telling people in the past the right thing, only to get chewed out by superior officers telling him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. His attitude in response got him kicked out of the garrison. And his pride kept him from seeking a way back in.

If there’s one thing he has in common with Allura is that the both of them have more pride than is good for them.

“So, what happens if Zarkon does come after us?” Keith asks after her third sigh.

He’d pilot them to safety of course but what about after? Could they return? Should they? And if they don’t who will pilot the castle? Can Coran make wormholes? No one’s thought to ask. Who will pilot the Red Lion?

“You couldn’t see Shiro again,” Keith adds on top of everything else. “Are you okay with that?”

“Of course not,” she sighs sadly, placing a hand on her chest. “But if I must...I will do what’s necessary. No matter the pain it causes my heart, we cannot afford to be selfish.”

Keith’s used to doing the selfish thing. Comes from years of only having to look out for himself. But for the Team, for Lance, he thinks he could be selfless. But it hurts, even now his chest feels tight at the thought of considering never seeing any of them again.

He wants to see Lance now, wants to hear him laugh.

No. He just needs to focus on the task at hand.

Keith flips a page and accidentally hits a button causing Lance’s voice to start reading the story. It’s nice to hear and he smiles at the book before realizing Allura’s staring at him. Quickly Keith hits it again to turn it off but he fumbles and increases the volume twice before finally turning it off. His face turns as red as his lion.

“Are you going to be okay, with leaving Lance?” she asks, her eyes soft.

He’s so grateful for the interruption in the form of Coran’s voice coming through the coms. It’s urgent they return as a Galra ship just showed up and is shooting up the place. Keith knows the team’s in danger but the relief he feels far outweighs it. It’s not him! It’s not Allura! They can return!

Or they could if the ship’s boosters hadn't blown up. Now they’re stranded in space, going only as fast as his armor boosters will allow, while the rest of the Paladins fight an entire fleet with one member short. He wishes their coms were working. Wishes they could go faster.

Wishes he’d taken the Red Lion instead of this pod.

“Keith! Look!” Allura shouts, pointing in the distance.

Keith’s eyes go wide at the sight of the approaching lion. It came for him. At the mere thought? He’s not about to question providence, taking any help the universe will hand him.

*****

The tide turns in the battle once Keith shows up in the Red Lion. Together they form Voltron and brandish a weapon big enough to cut the main ship into pieces. After the battle, there’s a little meeting on the bridge to confirm what Pidge believed all along. Zarkon is tracking the Black Lion which means Shiro needs to work on his bond with it.

Coran updates them on the status of their teladuv. They need new lenses and badly. He’ll come up with a plan over the next couple of days to solve that little problem but for now, everyone should get much-needed needed rest. Oh, and no more sneaking out of the castle he adds, specifically eyeing the two in question.

People split off to their respective groups to leave the bridge. Except Lance who’s standing there, arms crossed, as he waits for everyone to leave. Pidge gives Keith a pitying look as she passes him.

“Somebody’s in trouble,” she hums just as she leaves the room.

Keith can see she’s right. Lance is trying to maintain a calm exterior but man...he looks furious. Should he try to explain? Or just take the impending argument and perhaps subsequent beating? Lance pulls out the paper from inside his helmet, it’s crumpled and torn.

“What the hell man?” Lance shakes it at him. “Dude, you couldn’t just tell me what you were doing?”

“I uh,” Keith starts but Lance isn’t finished and silences him with a gesture.

“Come on Keith, you can’t do stuff like this. We’re a team. A team doesn’t function on whatever the hell this is,” Lance balls it up and nails the trashcan from across the room, nearly knocking it over. If he’d wanted to throw it at Keith he wouldn’t miss.

“Sorry,” Keith shrugs, sheepishly looking down. “I thought it would be easier.”

“On you, not the team,” Lance shakes his head. “And not on me.”

“Lance,” Keith starts, ready to apologize more profusely.

“That thing,” he says pointing at the trash. “That scared the shit out of me. And we couldn’t find you…everyone looked at me like I was supposed to know...but I--”

But he didn’t know. How could he? Lance’s hands shake, equal parts anger, frustration, and disappointment. Like he wants to hit something and cry at the same time. Keith waits for the tears but they don’t come.

“That was...it was super shitty, Keith,” Lance closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to relax before opening them again, brow furrowed. He looks hurt making Keith regret his actions more and more. “Felt like you didn’t trust me. I could have helped but you…”

“I know,” Keith looks down ashamed.

Lance looks up, serious look on his face, and closes the distance between them in a stride. Part of Keith braces for impact. If Lance wants to hit him, he’s going to let him. Feels like he deserves it. As much as it hurt to leave, he knows now it was worse for Lance. He didn’t know what was going on and left alone with questions that couldn’t be answered.

Arms swoop around Keith’s shoulders in an embrace and Lance rests his head with a tired sigh on his partner’s forehead. He keeps forgetting that Lance is taller than him and with the shame he’s feeling, Keith feels even smaller. Lance butts his head gently on Keith’s.

“I’m really really really mad at you,” Lance declares with a sigh. “But you’re back which makes me happier than I am mad.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith apologizes and wraps his arms around Lance’s waist. The warmth is instantly soothing as Lance hugs him back.

“Next time just...say something. I know you’ve got the quiet loner thing going on but…” Lance pulls back and puts his hands on Keith’s face to turn his eyes up. “You’re not alone anymore. We’re all here. I’m here too. Just...talk to us, okay?”

Keith nods and Lance kisses his forehead.

“You can have more once you’ve earned your way back into my good graces,” Lance tells him, finally hinting at a smile. “You can start with a foot massage.”

Keith nods with a smile. “Sounds fair.”

“And you owe me a date. Something as good as the beach,” Lance adds.

“Sounds fair,” Keith repeats. He can try at least. Dates aren’t exactly his forte.

Lance hooks an arm around his shoulder and they begin their walk back passing all of their comrades.

Hunk is already getting started on a meal, cooking bringing him a sense a comfort. Pidge assists Coran with the teladuv and making ‘Slipperies’ jokes all the while. They even travel past a hallway and pointedly turn their gaze away so as not to stare too long at a relieved Shiro passionately embracing a shocked Allura outside her quarters.

Keith leans into Lance’s hold with a content sigh.

Feels good to be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
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> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Update: Re-edited as of Aug 17, 2017

The prospect of going to a swap moon sounds intriguing to Keith for many reasons. The biggest reason being, lots of different races out and about with information on everything. With that many people gathered in one place there has to be someone who knows more about the empire. Or someone who knows more about Galra biology. It’s just a matter of finding someone.

And he needs to do so soon.

It’s getting harder to cover his skin now. Often he opts for his armor all day to avoid wasting too much concealer on his hand, face, and now his back. Sometimes he even sleeps in his clothes to Lance’s dismay.

A good portion of his cheek is purple now and at this rate, he’s going to be out of cover up in days. With any luck he’ll find a medicinal place that might have something he can use. More cover up or a cure. He’ll take anything at this point.

He doesn’t have any money but he’s desperate and not above stealing if he has too.

*****

It’s not what any of them expected.

No dark bustling marketplace. No loud crowds or seedy looking sorts. Insead, it’s well lit, clean and spacious. Not a unsavory looking person in sight, other than themselves. It...looks like a mall, complete with jaunty elevator music humming out of little speakers.

It appears things have changed a bit since Coran’s day.

“Yes, right. Everyone, let's fan out, search the area for teludav lenses,” Coran tells them and they get right on it after ditching the disguises. The team splits up and takes different quadrants to speed the search.

Keith scans shops in his section with a discerning eye, looking for anything that might even hint at teladuv lenses within. Pottery store. Clothing shop specifically catering to Taujeerians. An alien bakery that smells like flowers instead of bread. Another clothing shop but for pets. A health clinic.

“A clinic,” Keith whispers in sudden revelation. What better place to ask?

There’s what looks like a female--maybe some kind of lizard person--outside handing out pamphlets. He crosses to that side of the walkway and takes one from her hands. A special: Sign up with their mailing list and get a free health screening and a bottle of multivitamins half off.

“How do I sign up?” he asks the lady.

“Oh! Truly?” she beams sharp little lizard teeth. “See the one at the counter, with the blue carapace? They’ll help you!”

Keith goes in and the atmosphere reminds him of a nutrition store on Earth more than it does a doctor’s office. Bottles of vitamins, protein powders, and such line the walls in languages he’s never seen before. The beetle person at the counter waves him over, not with a smile but as gleefully as their mandibles allow. His other set of arms rapidly types at two different computers at once.

“You’re interested in our free health screening?” they chitter raspily. “Please, enter the device number you wish to receive our messages on and we can get started.”

“Can you use this?” Keith hands a communicator over.

“Indeed we can,” they say happily. Little bug hands take the device, scan it, and hand it back. Keith eyes the nametag on it’s shirt. It looks like runes, doing Keith no favors in figuring out it’s name.

“How do you pronounce your name?” Keith nods at their tag.

“Ah, its Kikirinilyx,” they chitter. “Kik, if it’s any easier.”

It is.

“Now, for your health screening all we need is you to put your arm in this,” Kik gestures to something that looks almost like a blood pressure cuff machine.

Keith’s hesitant but what other alternative does he have? He slides his arm through. It functions much like one, putting pressure and releasing air periodically. He feels a sting that must be some kind of blood sample syringe.

“You can remove your arm now, Mr. Kee-ith,” Kik tilts his head and his hand taps a small light. “Look in here for an eye exam while the system runs your blood work. It’ll only take a second.”

“It’s Keith,” he corrects as his eyes get flashed. He flinches and squints afterward, just knowing he’s going to get a headache from all this.

“Ah, apologies,” they click what sounds like a chuckle. “I just assumed from your blood work it was Galra in origin and pronunciation. Let’s see...mixed race. Equal parts human genome and Galra. No diseases.Taking necessary pills for optimal health. Good on you.”

“You’ve seen humans before?” Keith raises a brow.

“Oh sure, the Gray in Spatzil quadrant runs an Earthling store. Sometimes brings a few back with him,” Kik gestures and types. “Had one working in the food court about two decapheebs ago. Nice fellow. Great at singing, shame their life span is so short. Hmm...ah, well that explains a few things.”

“What?” Keith asks and leans to look at the screen. It does little to help him. More runes.

“I was wondering why you look like this. No offense but most mixed races exhibit features from both parental contributors. But it looks like you’ve got a genetic suppressor injection. It’s pretty old,” Kik comments and one set of their hands go to another computer.

“Suppressor?” Keith looks dumbfounded.

“This one is for suppressing all the physical attributes for Galra heritage,” they shrug. “Useful if you don’t want your child to get picked up for Zarkon’s army, I suppose. Uh oh.”

God, what _now_?

“They’ve been damaged and are in the process of being dissolved by your immune system,” Kik comments but doesn’t sound concerned. “Must have come in contact with some radiation if they’re unable to fight off your blood cells. If you aren’t experiencing changes now, you will be very soon. We could make you a new injection if you wish though its merits at this point are debatable. The cost is a mere thousand GAC.”

“Can’t afford it,” Keith sighs, frustrated.

Well that explains a few things. Why he looked normal up until now. These genetic suppressors kept him looking human, at least, until the Quintessence fucked it all up. There’s even a way to revert it however tenuous but...how can he steal a shot? He can’t even read the languages here.

Kik taps his shoulder and gestures him over to a far corner of store out of sight of the main entrance.

“Look, you’re half Galra right? But you’re not a part of Zarkon’s empire?” they ask. Keith shakes his head. “I normally wouldn’t ask but would you be willing to donate a blood sample, say half a pint? It’s not often we get unregistered Galra in our medical offices. In fact, it’s incredibly rare.”

“You want my blood?” Keith shrinks back a little. “Why?”

“It’s valuable, for one. Even as a mixed race, it has medicinal qualities that others would love to duplicate but can’t for lack of access. Zarkon limits any study on the Galra to his own people. Willing to pay you for it, under the table of course,” they gesture as they speak, their feelers twitching with interest. “Provided you can keep the details to yourself.”

Can Keith keep a secret? Please. He’s got a whopper of one his whole team doesn’t know about. And having a little money around the mall could come in handy. It’s not like half a pint is even a lot.

“How much?” Keith eyes him.

“Two thousand GAC?” Kik tilts their head. Keith glares suspiciously despite not knowing shit about the currency there. The bluff works as Kik shakes their head and quickly changes the number. “Three.”

“Five,” Keith ups the price. “And a new genetic suppressor injection.”

“That’s-”

“I’ll up it to a full pint,” Keith sweetens the deal.

Kik chitters as they think. After a moment of considering the chances of another opportunity like this the beetle nods their head with an affirmative chitter. They shake on it with three of their hands and beckons Keith back over to a chair for the donation. While the machine takes his blood, the beetle creature synthesizes an injection for him.

It’s red. For all his worries about changing, at least his blood is still red like a human's. Will that change? Or will that part of his humanity stay intact?

When all is finished Kik hands him a small bag, that Keith slings over his back.

They explain the shot is synthesized with a common space flu inoculation, should anyone stop to check it. It’s pneumatic design makes it easy enough to self-administer and Keith notes that it looks like an epinephrine pen so it won’t give him any trouble. He’ll be sick as a dog for the first varga of the injection because of the inoculation, but it should wear off within as much time.

“Drink lots of fluids,” Kik tells him. “Did you want to buy a bottle of multivitamins? Half off with your screening.”

“Got any like these?” Keith asks, pulling the bottle from his coat pocket for inspection.

Kik nods and retrieves a new bottle, slightly bigger. It’s a fresh bottle of pills, not unlike the ones Ulaz gave him. The beetle puts it in the bag with a card that he can only assume has the money he negotiated on it, minus the cost of some pills. Kik explains as much to confirm it.

“Fair warning Kee-ith,” Kik sighs and leans in close. “Your immune system is fighting the suppressors. There’s the possibility that this injection, regardless of its strength, won’t help and will be dissolved as well.”

“It’s Keith,” he reminds them. “What are the chances?” he then asks in earnest.

“50/50. Less the longer your body has time to develop stronger antibodies against the suppressors,” Kik says sadly and lowers their voice even more to reduce the risk of being overheard. “Truly, I hope it works. Even the Galra deserve to be free of Zarkon, in whatever form they can manage.”

“Thanks,” Keith sighs and leaves the counter with his bag of goods.

Kik puts on their best face and jovial voice to say, “Thank you for visiting the clinic! Hope to see you again soon, but not too soon! Have a healthy day!”

*****

He wanders around a bit, looking at the stores again. Right, he’s supposed to be looking for teladuv lenses but he’s not having much success. What he does find however is the alien equivalent of a CVS. He never thought he’d find makeup and paper towels in space but some things are universal it seems. Even aliens need lipliner and mouthwash.

Keith almost bypasses it and snaps his fingers before turning back to go inside.

“Personal lubricant,” he inquires at the first cashier.

“Species?” she asks back robotically, never looking up from her magazine. She has no eyes, how is she even reading?

“Uh, human...and Galra,” Keith flushes. It feels weird to admit it but the last thing he wants to do is get something that ends up giving him or Lance some kind of rash.

“Nice. Aisle four,” she points and makes a metallic sound that almost sounds like bubblegum popping. “Universal lubricant for all personal needs. Black bottle with purple stripe. Prophylactics in similar box next to it.”

How does she know what the colors are? Keith tries not to think too hard about it as he swipes them from the shelf. He watches as another customer buys some shampoo and fish crackers, seeing how the GAC card works. It’s then that he realizes through her mechanical movements that she’s an automaton of sorts. Programed with a laidback teenage personality.

Using the GAC card Kik gave him, the eyeless robot cashier rings up his purchases and scans the card. Cheap purchase, all things considered. After bagging the items, she gives him the pre programmed spiel of ‘thank you and come again’ as he continues on his way.

There’s still more than half of the credits left. What should he do with the rest of the money? It’s not like they’re going to come back any time soon. Maybe he’ll just hand it off to someone before they leave.

He wanders a bit again. Looking into stores for their actual objective and finding nothing in any of them. It may be impossible to find teladuv lenses. There’s a knife demonstration reminiscent of an As-Seen-On-TV infomercial back on Earth that piques his interest. He even tries to get a little information about the origin of his own knife, since the guy looks like quite the expert.

It goes poorly but he manages to get his knife back and escape down the walkways to a different section of mall content to avoid that area for a while. That’s when he hears a familiar voice.

“Pidge, wait! Look at all this crazy earth stuff this alien is selling,” Lance shouts excitedly.

Keith watches on from a few storefronts away, obscured by a large cat-hippo alien.

Pidge looks like she’s losing her mind over a game system and Lance begrudgingly informs her that they can’t buy anything there. The green paladin grabs him, exclaims that they WILL find money for this, and drags him down the way. Neither of them even notice Lance staring at them with confusion as they run by within inches of him.

An Earth store…

“Hello Earthling, everything you could want under the the Earth sun, here at Terra,” he says without much enthusiasm.

“What have you got?” Keith raises a brow.

“The latest Earth fashions, music, art and decor, as well as the most popular Earthling delicacies,” he waves to the store's contents.

Keith’s tilts his head and looks behind him at the counters and shelves. Sure, it’s the latest Earth fashion if it’s the 1980s. Those look like Hammer Pants. CDs look like they were made before Keith was even born. There are even old DVD’s still shrinkwrapped.

The decor looks like one of those hippie crystal shops complete with incense and statues of Buddha. There are potted plants, short and fat with large palm fronds, a cactus, and a purple orchid. Candles sit on the counter with scents like ‘morning rain’ and ‘sex on the beach’ and ‘gentle breeze’. Food on the shelves include twinkies, canned sodas, and any number of incredibly unhealthy snacks that survive space travel well.

Reminds him of a gas station in a tourist trap, complete with postcards and cheap sunglasses. Is that the front end of a fucking 67 Chevy Impala on the wall?! Keith’s not sure what alien would even want to buy that! Then there’s random stuff like a toaster, a record player, and a selection of bongs under the glass as well.

He’s starting to think the guy just grabbed up anything he could find from a pawn shop each time he visited earth. Whether it was valuable or not.

“Is that a cow?” Keith questions, his face beyond baffled. “Nevermind.”

“All items are buy one get one free,” he says apathetically.

Lance would love some of this stuff. After what Keith did, freaking him out like that, he owes him something nice. They are dating now, that’s what boyfriends do right? Get stuff for their partner? It clicks suddenly as he’s looking through the store.

He knows exactly what to get him and how to turn it into a date.

Hopefully, it turns out better than the last time he tried to do something nice.

*****

Lance has never had more fun in a mall in his life. Sloshing through a fountain, scraping up coins from the bottom to buy a game system he hasn’t played since he was a kid, and running away from a mall cop on top of it all? Like a weekend in Varadero when he was twelve. Escaping authorities included.

It isn’t until they're all back on the ship, cow in tow, that he realizes Keith has more than he left with. A plain duffel and it’s packed.

“Where’d you get the bag?” Lance asks as Shiro decides what to do with the cow.

“I stole it,” Keith shrugs.

“Really?” Lance looks intrigued.

“No. I traded some stuff for stuff,” Keith answers vaguely. “What are you going to do now?”

“I dunno, go for a swim in the pool. I figured out how to get into it,” Lance grins. “Wanna come? Kaltenecker’s coming.”

“No. No it is not,” Shiro sighs, rubbing his face. He pleads with Coran for the location of a nearby planet they can drop it off on. Since the team overstayed their welcome at the Mall they can’t exactly return it.

“Fine, I’ll swim alone but you’re breaking a man to cow promise,” Lance pouts. “What about you?”

“A project I’m working on. Hunk, I need your help with something,” Keith calls over and Hunk happily skips over.

“What is--”

“None of your business Lance,” Keith interrupts him. “Go swim for a while.”

Lance side eyes the two of them as they leave and wonders what they could possibly be up to. It doesn’t matter, the pool is calling his name. And this time, he’s going to swim in it! After the last try and subsequent failure getting in he had Coran tell him the process.

He can’t remember all the logistics of why the pool is stupid but the Altean gave him nice step by step instructions on how to enter the gravity field to get up on the ceiling. It won’t even feel like he’s upside down. According to Coran anyway.

At first, when he’s up there it feels weird. He left some of his things on the ground so every time he looks up he sees the towel and remembers he’s in the ceiling and not the floor. There’s even a moment where he panickingly wonders what will happen if the gravity cuts out. But nothing happens and he manages a number of laps before just floating around.

“Need to finish Keith’s lesson one of these days,” Lance sighs.

Maybe they can find another swimmable planet in their travels. Sure they have the castle pool but being upside down might be more than Keith can handle when still trying to learn the basics. He was nervous enough in a calm lagoon. Until they find one--oh! He can start teaching him how to Salsa in the meantime.

Salsa dancing is a must back home. Everyone and their mom knows how to do it. Lance closes his eyes and reminisces about Saturday’s back home. He’d spend hours at the pizza shack with girls in the summer just dancing. It was always in good fun, half the partners he danced with he knew since he was a baby, most of them unavailable and uninterested in him in the least.

He remembers hitting on them anyway of course, but nothing ever went anywhere. Hard for girls to take him seriously when they saw him go through all the awkward stages of youth, including but not limited to a stint when he was five and refused to wear clothes or brush his teeth.

All of them were super cute though. Long haired girls, flowers tucked behind their ears, tan and spinning in their skirts as they dance. Crop tops exposing their belly buttons in the setting sun. How would Keith look--Lance sputters and coughs when he lets himself sink in the water just thinking about Keith dancing in a crop top with him.

“Almost drowned myself there,” Lance clears his nasal passages with a blush on his face.

Keith with half a shirt, in a closed hold with Lance, his body in close. It’s not hard to envision the other positions and gyration of hips as they step. He can just see, just feel, Keith against him in the embrace position. His arms crossed in front of him over a bare midriff with Lance dancing close at his back. Peeling that shirt off his sweating body as they dance into the humid night...Lance licks his lips shamelessly as he sighs.

He’s gonna put that fantasy in his spank bank for later.

Lance exits the pool, following Coran’s instructions and makes it back to the floor to towel off. Gauging from the state of his pruned fingers he’s guessing it’s been about a varga, maybe two.

He needs to wash his face. Who knows what Alteans use to keep their pools clean but it can’t be good for his skin. So, he throws the towel around his shoulders and scoops up his clothes before walking back to the room.

Their door is closed but there are voices on the other side. Lance raises a single brow suspiciously and puts an ear to the door.

“You’re the best Hunk,” Keith says. “Thanks.”

“No problem, I’ve been thinking about this since we left Earth,” Hunk sighs. “Forgot how much I missed it.”

What? What?! Lance listens more intently.

“What do I owe you?” Keith asks.

“You don’t owe me anything, it’s what friends are for,” Hunk chuckles. “It’s nice to get my hands dirty working on something fun, you know? ”

“You sure? I can--”

“It’s fine, really! If you really want to pay me back, bring that thing to the common room once a week,” he laughs. “Lance shouldn’t be the only one who gets access.”

“Sure, no problem,” Keith tells him.

What on earth are they talking about? It sounds...it doesn’t sound innocent at all! Lance takes a deep breath, reminding himself that it couldn’t possibly be anything. It’s Keith. It’s Hunk. He’s not--they’re not--the door opens all of a sudden and Hunk looks taken aback to see him.

“Oh, hey Lance,” Hunk looks uncertain. “He’s a little early Keith.”

“It’s fine, we’re done anyway,” Keith says from deeper in the room.

“What’s going on?” Lance asks, genuinely troubled and failing to hide it.

“Keith’ll tell you. I’ve got to make an adapter plug in for Pidge so she can play her game,” Hunk steps aside and waves farewell. “Tell me how it goes and if you need me again.”

“Thanks again Hunk,” Keith calls out.

Lance steps in to find Keith fiddling with some kind of contraption on the table. The design is neither elegant nor very efficient looking but it reminds Lance of a stereo...maybe? It’s a motley mix of scrap parts soldered together with the distinct look of Hunk’s work. Hulking but functional. Could probably be launched at a planet and still work

“Is this what you two were talking about?” Lance bends down to look at it closer. The hell is it?

“Yeah, did you notice the rest of the room?” Keith asks as he pushes a button. A disk holder pops out.

Lance finally takes in his surroundings noticing a few changes have been made. There’s a new potted plant. Looks like the stoutest, fattest palm tree he’s ever seen, like a picture that’s been shrunk vertically. It’s placed on the shelf near the bed with a lit candle that smells like...coconut oil.

Speaking of the bed, the inner wall is plastered with posters and postcards from varying beaches. Some from the Caribbean, others from Barbados, and one from Cuba. The two big posters are of different beachscapes at sunrise and sunset subsequently.

On Lance’s pillow are nearly a dozen bags of snacks from Earth. Pizza flavored Combos, cracker jacks, sour gummies, peanut m&ms. Is that a Kudos bar? Rice Krispies treats and spicy potato chips propped up against the wall. And a canned six pack of generic cola at the foot of the bed. What a spread! He can’t believe his eyes.

“Where’d you get all this?” Lance whispers, staring in awe.

“A store at the Mall called Terra,” Keith smirks when it looks like he did it right this time. “It’s all yours. Cool?”

“This is way more than cool!” Lance breaks out into a grin. “Pizza Combos?! Man!”

Lance jumps into the bed, snatching the bag and flopping onto his back as he opens it. He shoves a handful into his mouth and makes exaggerated whines of glee as he chews. It’s been so long since he’s tasted absolute nutritionless garbage.

“Oh my god, it’s so good,” Lance sighs and swallows happily. “The only thing that could make this better--”

The machine flickers on and lights up the wall. Lance’s mouth gapes open as he sits up. The opening scene begins playing on the wall. Underwater seascape with iconic music.

“This is--” Lance stutters excitedly, bouncing in his seat.

Keith tosses a DVD case into Lance’s lap as he sits on the edge of the bed. It’s Jaws. He loves this movie. The hunter becomes the hunted. It’s a classic.

“Had Hunk help make the movie projector,” Keith tells him as he scoots into the bed and puts his back against the wall. “In the top drawer is about 5 more movies. It should play them all.”

Lance can’t stop smiling, or eating his combos. It really feels like movie night in Varadero, which is what Keith wanted to accomplish. Sure he could have downloaded the movies to their helmet’s archives but it wouldn’t feel like a movie theatre.

They snuggle in for the movie, watching as middle class American’s get shredded by the ancient shark evil that is JAWS. Lance offers the bag to Keith so he can take a few but he shakes his head, insisting they’re all for him. He doesn’t have to share any of it. That’s the point of his gift.

“Keith, I come from a HUGE family. Sharing is ingrained. Just take some,” Lance shakes the bag at him again. “I like sharing, please eat some. They’re horrible and delicious.”

“Fine,” Keith smirks and plucks a few out of the bag to crunch on. “So, do you like it all?”

“Like it? Keith...I know you don’t like the ‘L’ word but I’m like this close--” Lance says and illustrates his point with cheese-dusted fingers nearly touching. “--to saying it anyway.”

Keith snorts and shakes his head. Who knew the way to Lance’s heart was through bad food, cheesy decorations, and even cheesier movies? He doesn’t think he’d even care if Lance did proclaim his undying love right then with a soda in his hands and pizza seasoning on his chin.

“Holy shit, is that a slim jim?” Lance lights up, opening the next snack. “I’m gonna be sick tomorrow, I just know it. I don’t even care.”

Lance breaks into nearly every snack, insists that Keith eat some too, and together they clear a bag of m&ms, peachie-o’s, and pizza combos. They even drain four cans of soda. All of this over the course of Jaws, Alien, and half of Blade Runner. By then, Lance is passed out in Keith’s arms with smile on his face and crumbs on his shirt.

Keith looks down, licks his thumb and wipes some pizza dust from the corner of Lance’s mouth. This wakes him up and he smiles fondly up at Keith.

“So was this a good date?” Keith asks. He doesn’t exactly have others for reference but he’s pretty sure he did decently.

Lance nods and pulls Keith’s face down for a series of kisses. Tame at first but growing in heat with each slip of tongue. Keith nibbles back and down Lance’s jawline to get at his neck. He can feel Lance’s fluttering pulse under his lips. He can think of one way to make this date even better.

“Turn, and sit here,” Keith pats between his legs.

In seconds, Keith has Lance’s ass pressed firmly against his lap. He pulls off Lance’s shirt and then his own, just so he can feel the warmth from Lance’s body when he crowds in close, nose in Lance’s neck to deeply inhale his scent.

Keith palms Lance’s crotch a couple of times, slow but with firm pressure. Each sigh that comes out of Lance advances Keith’s hand further. Undoing his buttons and zipper. Palming inside results in Lance tilting his head back onto Keith’s shoulder with a moan. Keith continues this slow rubbing while barely biting into Lance’s shoulder.

“Ah, Keith,” Lance sighs. “ _Harder_.”

“No,” Keith mouths at his neck with wet kisses while his hand works Lance out of his pants. Not today. He doesn’t want Lance getting riled up, he wants him to relax.

He strokes gently and Lance melts in his hands with a shiver. With simple rolls of his wrist and breathing hot on Lance’s neck, Keith’s got him powerless.

The movie plays in the background but neither of them even spare it a glance. Lance is too focused on the heat Keith’s body radiates and the feel of his hand. Keith can’t see or hear anything except the flush on Lance’s face and his panting sighs.

“What about...you?” Lance whispers. He tries to grind back but Keith stops him, his hands firmly grabbing Lance’s hips to still him.

“Nope, just you this time,” Keith nuzzles into his neck. “I said this is all for you...and I still need to make things up to you, right?”

Lance nods his understanding. While they have lube now, discreetly stored in the bottom drawer, Keith just settles for his own saliva for now since he doesn’t want to move or lose his rhythm. Plus, they’re not about to fuck, no need to bust it out. He puts his wet hand on Lance and he shivers again at the slick strokes.

“Just...lean back,” Keith whispers in his ear and Lance complies.

Keith leisurely squeezes his length, working him into knots. His other hand dips further into his pants to fondle his balls. The combination of touches makes Lance let out a mewling moan, arching back.

“You’re dripping,” Keith comments, his finger brushing over the precome leaking out of him.

“Yeah, well...you’re--” Lance gasps and pants, his cock twitching in Keith’s firm grasp.

Keith’s hands have his tongue tied in his throat. Keith’s mouth on his neck and hard-on pressing against his ass have his body tingling and head swimming. Each stroke is a new adventure in self-control. He doesn’t want to finish too soon but it’s getting more difficult to contain himself.

He’s holding back again Keith notes. What a show-off. Keith keeps sweeping up and down his cock with one hand but the other glides up stomach, chest, and eventually comes to rest at Lance’s neck. He tilts his head to the side and slips his tongue into Lance’s mouth for hunger-starved kisses.

“K-Keith, I...” Lance pants between kisses, his face flushed. “Faster...please.”

Keith hushes him with his mouth and Lance weakly gives in to his kisses. Keith then starts stroking more rapidly. The panting gets faster and clipped. Lance is so enticing Keith can feel his own breath getting short, his erection pressing eagerly against him. He must have hit the right momentum because Lance mewls and throws his head back again, gasping in quick succession.

So close, he’s so fucking close.

Keith wants it to always be like this. To be the one who unravels Lance with a touch, with a word. He’s never wanted that with anyone else. Why is that? How does Lance do that to him? Makes him weak just by smiling at him. Softens his heart with a turn of phrase or poorly timed joke. Gets him hard with a single kiss or sigh.

Makes him feel normal and special all at once.

Even with the strangeness going on with his body, he wants to let Lance know. Even if Lance sees what he becomes and rejects him; he’s not going to wait anymore and end up regretting staying silent. Regardless of what happens, monster or not, he’s not going to hide how he feels anymore. He has to say it now, or never say it at all.

“Lance,” Keith says, pressing his lips to skin. His face is lighting up red as he speaks. “I need to say something.”

“What?” Lance whimpers.

“No matter what happens, I want you to know,” Keith breathes hot and husky on his neck. “I’m _yours_ , Lance.”

“K-Keith!” Lance gasps, his body shaking as he releases.

He keeps pumping as Lance spills all over his hand, his face buried in Lance’s neck. He’s dangerously close to coming in his own pants but resists the urge to grind against Lance. This is for his partner, not for himself. Lance goes limp against Keith, breathing hard and looking more than a little disoriented.

Too many Galra kisses, Keith thinks to himself.

“Keith? Did you--hold on a sec...phew...was that a confession? Like the ‘L’ word kind?” Lance scrunches his eyes together trying to refocus. “I just...I want to make sure before I mark the date and time.”

“Shut up,” Keith nudges him, his face still pretty beet red. “And...yeah. It was.”

Lance looks positively proud, beaming brightly.

“I knew you’d fall for me eventually,” Lance winks at him. “You resisted my charms for as long as you could, admirably I might add, but all must succumb to this!”

He flexes and gives his best sultry smile. It’s not impressive by any stretch of the imagination but it does make Keith chuckle. Lance knows a victory when he sees one, so he’ll take it. Keith cleans him up and they finish the movie together, Lance between Keith’s legs and reclining back to enjoy his human chair.

Keith massages Lance’s neck the whole while and by the time the ending credits are rolling Lance is out like a light. Ever so carefully he maneuvers around him to clean up the rest of their mess. The candy wrappers and empty soda cans, all gathered up and tossed in the trash. Crumbs brushed from the bed and candle blown out. He even puts the movie disc back into its case and stacks it into the appropriate drawer.

Lance is then gently picked up and resituated under the covers. He’s exhausted, which Keith can hardly blame him. After he turns off the lights Keith slips under the covers too until flush with Lance’s body. He takes the time to nuzzle and smell Lance before wrapping his arms around him protectively.

Though he had fun tonight with Lance, his mind keeps coming back to the injection in his room. It’s sitting there, still in the bottom of the duffle bag, waiting for his use. Does he take it? And hope for the best? What if it doesn’t work? He’ll have to explain himself to the others and why he lied for so long when he could’ve come clean.

White lies. Ones of omission. Secrets. Hiding. He’s tired of it all.

He won’t have to explain anything if it works, and the longer he waits the less likely it will. He shakes his head. No ‘ifs’. It’ll work, it has to. So just a few more secrets, a few more white lies, and he won’t have to anymore.

Tomorrow he takes the shot and whatever consequences come with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	16. Chapter 16

  
“Keith isn’t feeling well?” Pidge asks, her eyes never leaving the screen of her new game.

“He seemed alright yesterday when we made the DVD player,” Hunk comments, putting down a plate of crispy looking snacks next to Pidge. She eats with one hand while continuing to play with her other and her foot. Impressive.

“At first I thought it was that junk food,” Lance muses. “But I feel great and I had way more than he did. Maybe a cold?”

“We were just at the Mall, maybe he caught something?” Pidge suggests and groans when her player dies. “I mean, I’m surprised we all don’t have something at this rate with the number of aliens we come into contact with. The speed with which a virus or disease vector can transfer illness is astounding when you take into considera--aw come on!! I clearly jumped! You saw it right, Hunk?”

“Yeah, you definitely jumped there,” Hunk agrees with her and then turns back to Lance. “Pidge is right though, he could have come into contact with some kind a space flu. How did he look?”

“A fever, sweaty, nauseous,” Lance lists off. “He’s holed up in his room until it passes. Doesn’t want to get anyone else sick, I guess.”

“Well, check in on him every hour or so. Make sure he’s drinking water,” Hunk comments. “I’ll see what we’ve got for making soups or something.”

“Agh!! Died again,” Pidge grumbles, frustrated she tosses the controller away from her. “I’ll take a break and look up common illnesses between the different races we’ve come into contact with. There’s gotta be something that’ll help us out. Just let me know if his symptoms change.”

“Thanks, guys,” Lance smiles. “I’m sure Keith’ll appreciate it.”

*****

He hasn’t felt this sick in years. In fact, he’s been relatively healthy his entire life with the exception of one case of food poisoning a handful of years ago. And even that’s not as bad as this.

These are just the symptoms of the flu Kik warned him about. Fever giving him the sweats. Body aches. And nausea that keeps making him get up to puke in the sink. He’s long given up keeping food down but water from the tap seems to stay longer.

He’s already pulled off his shirt and pants to keep them from getting drenched with sweat. A shower helps with some of the heat but washes away all of his cover up making it that much more obvious at how far the splotches have spread.

They’re everywhere now. Travelling up his arm and over his face. The spot on his back is the size of a fist now and a new breakout has started on his shin. And holy hell does it itch like crazy! It takes all he has to just rub his skin with his palms instead of raking his nails to ease the tingling.

How much of this is he going to have to endure?

With a drink from the tap to replenish his fluids, he returns to the bed and under the covers for a time. He needs to sleep and as hot as his body is he doesn’t want it exposed so he stays under the sheets. His body aches and begs for rest. A quick nap and he’ll feel better in no time. It’ll give the suppressors time to work.

He hopes.

*****

It’s been hours and each time Lance stops by, Keith tells him he’s fine. He doesn’t need anything. Lance even tries to open the door but gets an error. Keith is keeping the door shut with his own hand on the inside panel, adamant about no one entering.

“You sure? Hunk’s made some soup. It’s kinda salty but pretty good,” Lance tries to tempt him.

“No thanks...I’m not...hungry,” Keith tells him between, panting groans.

“You drinking water?” Lance asks.

“Yes...please just...go Lance,” Keith urges. “I don’t want you to get sick.”

“Alright,” Lance sighs, finally relenting. “I’ll check on you again in an hour.”

“Just send messages through the communicator…” Keith suggests. “You don’t have to keep walking down here.”

“Fine, if you insist,” Lance shrugs. “Get some sleep.”

*****

He’s gone again. Finally. Keith takes his hand off the panel in the room keeping the door shut. Anytime he hears Lance knocking he has to force himself up through his pain to keep him from coming in. To keep him from seeing him like this.

The flu sickness is gone. Hasn’t felt like throwing up for a while now. But now his symptoms are different, and much more potent than before.

God the heat, he can’t stand it. His skin burns and itches something fierce. Even his ears burn as though someone is ripping them from his head. Sometimes he’ll sit under the cold water stream for fifteen minutes at a time and moan in misery until the stinging heat abates. Whenever it does leave it doesn’t stay gone for long.

Then there’s this pain behind his eyes, like a migraine and just as disorienting. Sometimes he can’t see, he’s dizzy, and then other times everything is so sensitive he has to shut them for relief. It helps to keep them closed as often as possible but it still hurts.

When he gets up to relieve himself he looks into the mirror again. His eyes widen in horror.

“No,” Keith grits his teeth with disappointment at first, then despair and anger. “No! NO!”

This can’t be happening! Did he wait too long?

His face, it's nearly covered in purple flesh. And his eyes! Looking in close he sees the whites of his eyes, they’re not white anymore. He slams his fists on the counter and twists his face away from the glass, not willing to accept it. Yellow.

Knock Knock!

In a sudden panic, Keith slams his hand on the bathroom door panel to close it just as Lance walks in.

“You okay in there? You didn’t answer my messages,” Lance talks through the bathroom door.

“Sorry,” Keith clenches his jaw, staring at his shaking purple hand holding the door closed.

“I know you said you weren’t hungry but there’s soup on the table with some kind of potato-bread-thing Hunk made. I dunno, looks weird but smells good,” Lance tells him. “Get better soon alright?”

“Sure,” Keith swallows.

“I miss your sour face already.”

“Me too,” he barely whispers under his breath.

Once the door closes again Keith relaxes his hand and looks down into the sink despairingly. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He honestly thought if he hoped and believed it enough, the way Lance always does, then everything would be alright. He’d change back to how he was before.

But now…

Keith looks up at himself, tears forming in his new yellowed sclera. His purple skin looks as though it’s spreading before his eyes. Those ears...they’re slightly pointed now with little tufts of...is that really fur?

He barely recognizes himself.

He staggers back to the room and eyes the food on the table. It does smell good and he does have a little bit of an appetite back. The soup has large chunks of meat and vegetables in it that he gladly swallows down. He tries the bread but it’s harder than he expects, that or his jaw is too sore from clenching all day to chew properly. He soaks it in the soup and when he reaches for the glass of juice he sees there’s a napkin underneath with a note.

_Eat Hunk’s food. It’s good for you. -Pidge_

_**Stay hydrated! Drink water! -Hunk** _

                                        Get some sleep. -Shiro

_ Take a relaxing bath! -Allura_

**Don’t forget to brush your  
teeth**   **after throwing up. -Coran**

All notes written in the hands of his worried team. And at the bottom in Lance’s sweeping cursive…

_See you soon, we’ll watch Robocop with everyone when you’re up again. -Lance_

Keith clutches the note in his hand and heaves a sigh that turns into an exasperated sob. He can’t even think about finishing his food, his emotions overwhelming him. Too much. God, they care too much. After all he’s done, the stress he’s put them through with his attitude, his rash decisions...and now his lies as he hides in his room.

What did he ever do to deserve them?

“Nothing,” he answers himself, his throat tight.

He swallows down the drink and falls into the bed, throwing the covers to the floor. It’s too hot for it. Time for a little more rest, like Shiro suggested. It’s a good idea with how much his body hurts and how dizzy he’s been. He’s going to need the energy to make another trip to the cold spray of the shower in an hour.

So he sleeps, and sweats. He tosses and turns, trying to find a position that doesn’t hurt but it seems impossible. No matter how he lays, his body is on fire, inside and out.

Later he hears the ping of messages from his communicator but his eyes are so out of focus he can’t read anything. He pants like an animal suffering from heatstroke, god, is that what this is? It feels like it. Keith needs to get in the shower again, he’s too hot. He needs the cold to soothe his aching body.

His fingers reach for the device and he manages to type something before dropping it. When he stands the room spins and he falls like a ragdoll to the ground. With as much strength as he can muster he tries to get back up but collapses into a gasping heap.

Is this...is this how he dies? Burning in his own skin as the Quintessence re-writes his DNA? Howling in pain and gasping for cold air, for cold anything to put him out of his misery as his body rapidly goes through a change it could have had his entire life to do but squeezed into a couple months? He could call out but who would hear him? His throat is sore from all his groaning, there’s no point.

“I’m sorry...Lance,” he rasps, shaking on the ground.

*****

What a weird message from Keith. Up until now most of his answers have been short and predictable. _I’m fine. Just tired. Taking a shower. Just a headache_. But this new one. It’s just one word and it doesn’t even answer his question.

_Water._

“Maybe something’s wrong with the tap?” Hunk suggests.

“Take him a bottle from the kitchen,” Pidge shrugs.

“And let him know we’re rooting for him!” Coran adds.

Lance snatches a bottle of water and a handful of fruit before heading over to Keith’s room. He kicks the door to knock and announce himself. No response.

“Keith, brought you some water. Cool if I come in? Or are you throwing up again? Want me to hold your mullet?” Lance asks and then leans in to listen. Nothing.

That’s really weird. Maybe he fell asleep? He doesn’t want to get sick too but...he’ll just leave the bottle on his table. Lance elbows the panel and this time it opens without delay. He takes three steps in when his eyes fall on a crumpled body, face down in the middle of the floor.

“Keith?” Lance’s voice cracks as he drops the items. “Keith!?”

Lance skids to his knees and puts a hand on his warm back. He’s breathing but it’s ragged. Alive. When he flips him over and sits him up his eyes go wide in utter shock.

“Keith? What’s--why’s your--” Lance stutters. He’s not sure where to begin.

Keith’s purple body feels hot, ridiculously so. Lance swipes aside his bangs and finds he’s slick with sweat and moaning as he tries to open his eyes. Lance’s hand and face recoil when he sees Keith’s eyes are bright yellow. What’s happening to him? He looks like...Lance swallows and looks at the door.

He needs to get the others. Shiro. Allura. Someone who’ll know what to do.

“I’m gonna get help Keith,” Lance tells him.

“No!” Keith begs. “Please...don’t...”

“I have to do something!” Lance shakes his head. “I...what do I do?”

“The...sh-shower…” Keith tries to turn his head to the bathroom. He even tries to move in that direction but he falls back wheezing. He’s too unsteady.

“The shower?” Lance looks from Keith to the bathroom. “Okay, I got you buddy.”

Lance runs into the shower, turns the cold taps, and rushes back to Keith. He scoops under him to pick him up, Keith groaning in response to any movement. The light of the bathroom really brings home how different he looks but Lance can’t stop to stare. He climbs into the shower, clothes and all, and drops to the ground under the cold spray with Keith clutched in his arms.

“Better?” Lance asks and all Keith can do is nod weakly.

It doesn’t make sense. This is a sickness? Keith definitely looks sick with his painful writhing, feverish skin, and weak responses. Lance shivers under the freezing water but looks to Keith’s face and finds blessed relief. To the point of passing out.

“Hey, hey, no. Wake up Keith,” Lance jostles him, worry in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” Keith whispers. “I’m sorry...don’t...go…Lance.”

“I’m not leaving, I’m right here,” Lance assures him and presses his bangs out of his face.

He looks delirious, eyes unable to focus and his speech slightly slurred. None of his sentences complete themselves and half the words don’t make sense. But some things make it through.

“I was...scared. I didn’t…” Keith moans. “It hurts…”

“Don’t talk, just uh...just relax,” Lance tries his best to calm himself just as much as he’s trying to calm Keith.

Lance waits in the shower, holding Keith tight, trying to understand what’s happening as his temperature lowers. Purple skin. Yellow eyes. When Keith opens his mouth to whine Lance sees sharp canines. This...this can’t just be some illness he picked up.

When he doesn’t feel hot anymore, Lance turns the water off. He drags Keith out of the shower and out of his clothes to dry him off. Once that’s done he carries Keith to the bed and puts him on it, tucking him in with a thin sheet. He tosses his own drenched clothes over the shower rod and wraps a towel around his waist for the time being.

With a sigh Lance scoops up the bottle of water from the floor and drags a chair to Keith’s bedside before taking a seat. His fingers shakily open the bottle and take a sip as he comes to terms with what he’s seeing.

He can’t think for long as Keith pants for breath, stating it’s too hot. Lance runs to the bathroom and runs cold water over a wash cloth before bringing it back and patting it on his head. It seems to help and Keith calms down though he still can’t say much.

He’ll just have to wait until he’s lucid again for answers. Maybe by then he’ll know what to ask.

*****

When Keith opens his eyes he sees ceiling. That can’t be right. The last thing he remembers seeing is floor. And why does his tongue hurt? Did he bite it? Fuck, everything hurts to be honest. Turning his head seems possible, even though it’s throbbing like someone’s beating on his head with a hammer.

Keith sees Lance sitting there next to him with concerned eyes and his eyes go wide with terror. It’s too late but he hides his face under the blanket regardless.

“Keith? Can we...uh, talk?” Lance asks on the other side of the blanket. “You don’t have to come out...but I do have...questions?”

Keith swallows the choking fear in his throat. He knows it’s stupid to bury himself in blankets. It’s too late to hide it now. But he can’t stand the idea of Lance looking at him like he’s some kind of sideshow freak. There’s a gentle hand resting on his shoulder through the sheet and it calms him enough to lower the fabric and sit up a little.

His eyes can’t meet Lance’s, he wants to but he’s afraid.

“Keith, are you...are you Galra?” Lance asks softly, as if being too loud would make it harder to answer.

He can’t help but grit his teeth into a grimace as he tries to hold back his shame. It only makes his sharper canines more pronounced so he covers them and turns his face away from Lance. He guesses that’s sufficient enough to answer his question. Lance lowers his eyes to the ground.

“How long have you known?”

Another long silence.

“A while then?”

Quiet again.

“Keith, why didn’t you say something?” Lance asks, finally looking up from the floor.

“I was scared,” Keith’s voice cracks. And he still won’t look at Lance, keeping his face in any direction but his. On top of everything he’s starting to cry again.

“Of what? Did you think we’d be mad? That we’d make you leave?” Lance suggests and Keith’s body goes stiff. Lance absorbs what he sees with shock. That’s exactly what he thought. “Keith...come on. We’d never…”

“I didn’t know what to tell them. Shiro. Allura. The others,” Keith sighs and looks down at his light purple palms as his shoulders sink. “And you.”

“Me? Keith, buddy,” Lance shakes his head and takes a seat closer on the bed. Keith shrinks back and turns more. “Dude, I’ve hit on literally every alien we’ve come across. What makes you think purple skin is going to deter my barely containable adoration for you? I’d still be here even if you had a tail! Do you...have a tail? I didn’t really check.”

Keith wants to laugh but it feels like he shouldn’t, like he isn’t supposed to. Not in a situation like this. He shakes his head ‘no’ to answer him and Lance goes on.

“The ears I’ll have to get used to, the eyes too,” Lance admits. “But the other things aren’t that bad. Your skin’s--woah, hey. It’s actually kinda soft. Like suede. And those teeth! Can’t wait to see those in action. Can’t wait to feel them either, rawr!”

Keith snorts despite himself and chuckling Lance puts a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it until he relaxes. He still feels rather warm, and his face still looks flushed and feverish. There are portions of skin, small ones, that aren’t quite purple yet but it’s only a matter of time.

“Do you still feel sick?” Lance asks.

“I’m...tired. Very tired. My head hurts,” Keith winces and Lance guides him back down to the pillow.

“I’m gonna get you more water. And maybe some painkillers? There’s probably some in the med bay,” Lance stands with a sigh, adjusting his towel. “And my bathrobe. I’ll be right back alright? In like two minutes. We’ll think of a way to tell the others later. For now, just...rest up.”

Keith nods and closes his eyes. He thinks it's only for a second but when he blinks them again Lance is back in his blue robe, drinking something that smells like coffee as he reads aloud in the chair. He notices Keith’s awake again and reaches over to give him a few pills and some water.

“Thanks,” Keith sighs. “I’m sorry...that I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Well, some things make more sense now,” Lance nods. “It’s no wonder you had no trouble in the dark the day we used the cuffs...looking back now, it’s like...why the hell didn’t I notice that? Oh, right, I had a cock in my mouth for half of it and a tongue in my ass so…”

Keith snorts again, glad for Lance’s ability to keep things light and ease his discomfort. Lance smiles fondly at him and brushes his hair aside to look at his face, to make note of all the changes. Keith tucks his face under the blanket away from the hand, still very dissatisfied with his new appearance.

“You okay?” Lance asks.

“No,” Keith sighs. “I tried to fix this. To stay me. But now I’m stuck with--”

“Keith, there’s nothing to fix. You’re still you,” Lance assures him. “If I found out that I was, I dunno, Altean or something, I’d still be Lance Mcclain. Sharpshooter and super suave pilot of the Blue Lion of Voltron.”

“...”

“You’re still Keith. Super fine, albeit hot-headed, badass pilot of the Red Lion. Being Galra’s just...like a sidenote into who you are, not the whole thing,” Lance explains. “You feel me?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Keith sighs, still not feeling that relieved.

“Great, I’m coming in,” Lance stretches and takes off his robe. “This chair is giving me lower back pain and I can’t afford sciatica at my age.”

Lance crawls over him and plops on the other side. They’ve done this a million times but Keith expects it to feel strange. He doesn’t expect Lance to reach out like he’s done before, without hesitation to embrace Keith’s soft new body against his chest. Doesn’t expect him to nuzzle into his hairline and behind his pointed ears to take a deep breath of his scent. But he does do those things.

“You still smell the same,” he comments happily as he kisses his neck, mouths it with wet lips. “Taste the same too.”

Keith sighs, his body relaxing a little at the familiar feeling despite his uncertainty. For a second he thinks Lance is going to take it further but he stops. Just spoons in real close and sighs. His hands cupped around Keith’s heart.

“It’ll be okay,” Lance whispers. “Trust me.”

And so they sleep. Keith doesn’t dream about the Galra. Not even about Zarkon. No, he’s being pulled by his hands through gently lapping waves. Into an black ocean speckled with shining stars and galaxies. Pulled until he’s floating on the stars with Lance’s soft words in his ears.

_**I got you.** _

*****

The communicator tells him it's been hours and his headache is gone. No one’s come by to check on them, probably thanks to Lance. Speaking of, he’s out cold at Keith’s back. He doesn’t even notice when Keith slips his hold and walks over to the bathroom to relieve himself. He’s so full of liquids he could burst.

After buttoning back up, Keith catches sight of himself in the mirror and looks on with a discouraged sigh.

He hates it. All of it.

The abominable shade of purple. The softness of skin that feels like it’s not his own anymore. No claws though, which is a blessing. He doesn’t want to look anymore animal than he already does with his feline ears twitching and turning to catch sound. Ugh, and those yellow eyes. At least he still has his dark irises and pupils, so he doesn’t look completely soulless, just really jaundiced.

Keith grimaces to show his teeth and lets out an aggravated sigh. The canines are longer but if he keeps his mouth closed it’s not as noticeable. Any time he talks or smiles will show them off. Not that he feels like smiling or talking much now.

Thank god he doesn’t have a tail...that would be just too much.

He’s grateful for the human qualities that stuck around though. He doesn’t feel any taller like all the Galra they’ve met. His fingers and toes still look like fingers and toes. His nose doesn’t look like it’s changed at all. In fact, most of his facial features remain intact shapewise. His hair’s still a nice thick black mullet or at least, he thinks it is. There may be a tint to it now of a deep violet but he’s not sure.

Regardless, the person looking back at him...feels foreign. Like it’s not really him. He’s a stranger and Keith just happens to be in his body.

And nothing can be done about it now.

He hits the counter top in anger but it melts away into silent resignation as he sinks to the floor. Pressing his forehead into the counter does little help stem the tide of his tears. He’s grieving. Sure, he’s alive but he lost something. Something he can’t quite...define. Like his identity has been taken from him.

Warm hands encircle his shaking shoulders, rubbing gently. Lance sighs and cards a hand through Keith’s hair affectionately before coming back to rest at his shoulders. He waits until Keith’s tears run dry before acknowledging the other elephant in the room.

They have to tell the others.

There’s no way to put it off. Eventually, they’re going to see him when he has to come out to pilot his lion. It’s better to do it now than wait until there’s an emergency and no one has time to process it. Lance insists he do it soon.

“I know. You’re right,” Keith clears his throat, regaining some composure.

“Scared?”

“No,” Keith denies but the lie obvious to the both of them.

“I’ll warm them up for you,” Lance offers. “It’ll soften the blow.”

He thinks to object but instead says, “Thanks.”

The two of them get dressed and as Keith is pulling on his jacket he hears Lance call through the communicator.

“Shiro. It’s about Keith...He’s feeling better, yeah but...can you call a team meeting in the common room? There’s something everyone needs to see...Thanks, Shiro.” Lance then turns it off. “Everyone will be there in two dobashes. You ready?”

No, he’s not but he doesn’t want to wait any longer.

He’s kept everyone in the dark long enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	17. Chapter 17

Keith keeps thinking they’re going to run into someone in the halls. That they’ll bump into Pidge or Shiro or heaven forbid, Allura, before reaching the common room. He doesn’t know what to do with himself. Fingers fidget in his pockets, his teeth chew on his bottom lip until he nearly bites through, his ears flick everywhere trying to catch any sound of approaching footsteps.

Lance walks ahead of him, providing him with something of a shield. Something to hide behind if he must. He feels pathetic for being ready and willing to use Lance as cover but if the blue paladin wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have even left his room. He may have been content to stay barricaded in there until Shiro broke down the door.

Keith notices immediately when Lance slows down to walk beside him. He doesn’t want Lance seeing how much this is tearing him up inside so he tries to slow again to stay behind him. It doesn’t work. Lance laces an arm around his shoulder and pulls him along despite his attempts to shrug him off.

“It’s going to be fine,” Lance tells him. “We’re practically a family. No way anyone’s going to throw you out.”

“Allura and Coran aren’t going to be happy,” he says glumly.

“So what? They can suck it up,” Lance stops and puts his hands on Keith’s shoulders. “They were wrong about Ulaz too. And Shiro’s not about to let Allura kick you off the ship, I don’t care how hot or scary she can be.”

Keith gives a pathetic smile and Lance keeps them moving until they arrive outside the common room door. Lance listens to through the metal for a second before turning to him.

“Okay. Everyone’s in there,” Lance swallows and takes a deep breath. “You can wait outside the door. Just...come in when you feel it’s the right time.”

Keith’s glad Lance didn’t say ‘when you’re ready’ because he doesn’t think he’ll ever be ready for this. His heart resumes the thundering in his chest just thinking about their eyes on him. While his fight or flight response is heavily weighted towards fight, right now he wants to just run. Away. As quickly as possible.

“You can do this,” Lance assures him, smacking his palms down on Keith’s shoulders to pump him up. “Just gotta attack it. Head on. Like when we fight the gladiator.”

The analogy does help a little. If he has a plan he hasn’t told Keith what it is and Lance’s suddenly nervous averting eyes aren’t reassuring him.

“Here goes,” Lance puffs his cheeks with another breath.

He turns with his game face on. The door opens and closes just as quickly behind him as he enters, leaving Keith to listen in from the other side.

Everyone’s sitting on the two couches. Allura and Coran sitting up straight and conversing about this and that. Shiro’s behind them, braced on the couch back and putting in his two cents. Pidge and Hunk are taking turns on the game console that Pidge has set up to stay in the common room, it’s new permanent home. Once Lance is there, all conversation stops and heads look up at him expectantly.

No pressure. It’s cool. He’s fine.

“Where’s Keith?” Hunk asks.

“Is he alright?” Shiro steps forward.

“Yeah, he’s...mostly alright. He’s fine. Not sick anymore at all but,” Lance gives an awkward smile. “I’m just gonna...just gonna say it.”

“Say what? You two getting marrie--”

“Keith is Galra,” Lance blurts.

Keith smacks his face at what he hears and growls miserably into his palm. Dammit Lance. What happened to warming them up? To soften the blow? Lance has never curtailed his thoughts, so what did Keith expect? An eloquently planned speech? Maybe he really should have done this himself. He presses one of his cat-like ears to the cool metal of the door to listen for the response.

The entire team, minus Shiro, bursts into laughter. Hunk snorts and Pidge just cackles. Allura holds it in as long as she can but giggles trickle out. Coran bellows, a hand on his head and commenting about Paladins and their Earth jokes. Shiro doesn’t laugh but he does look confused, as if he doesn’t get it.

“I know Keith’s a troublemaker sometimes but to call him Galra,” Hunk snickers.

“That’s hilarious,” Pidge chuckles, taking her glasses off to clean them. “Good one Lance.”

“I’m not--”

“Sure, you’re not joking,” Hunk raises his hands and looks at the others. “Didn’t you know? I’m actually Balmeran.” Pidge snorts out more laughter and smacks his shoulder.

Lance is just dismayed at the reaction. They don’t believe him, like at all. Allura and Coran continue to laugh to themselves. Even Shiro just shrugs apologetically, unable to come to Lance’s defense on this. It’s not like he hasn’t pulled jokes like this in the past and this one isn’t even that good. How does he get them to take him seriously without forcing an already extremely self-conscious Keith to--

All the laughter stops suddenly as the door opens. They gasp as their eyes fall on the space behind Lance.

Keith steps forward, slowly but with the illusion of determination, though his mind couldn’t be more unsettled. His insides bubble with nerves and trepidation but he makes it to stand next to Lance. He inhales deeply and raises his head to look out on the team, not sure what to expect.

Too late to run away now.

Silence as they all stare.

”Keith?” Shiro squints and steps forward to inspect him.

The look on Shiro’s face is crossed between concern and disbelief. He’s known Keith forever and this isn’t something he ever expected. Shiro’s eyes scan over him, not sure if what he’s seeing is real. Like he needs confirmation that his eyes aren’t lying to him or that this isn’t some kind of elaborate prank.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Keith nods.

“Look at that,” Hunk blinks. “He’s...he’s turned purple.”

“What happened to him?” Pidge stands and stares curiously. “How does someone turn into a Galra? Wouldn’t you have to be born one?”

“I was...” Keith discloses, lowering his eyes.

“But you looked like a person!” Hunk exclaims. “Er, I mean. You still look like a person. What a mean is you were a human person. But now you’re...a Galra person.”

“No, Hunk. No,” Pidge adjusts her frames with a chiding tone. “This means he was always Galra, it’s just...apparent now? Something must have prevented the typical physical traits we’ve come to associate with the Galra. A hormonal delay from mixing with human genetics or something to that effect.”

“That’s...pretty close,” Keith shrugs. “An injection. I didn’t know until a little while ago.”

The room goes silent again as they take him in. Eyes scanning over the changes with confusion. For a second, the quiet gets to Keith and he thinks about running out again. God, when did he become such a coward? When did he start giving a shit what people think of him?

It’s Hunk that finally breaks the silence.

“So...do you like...have a tail now?” Hunk wonders.

Lance grins wide and points at Hunk with an understanding nod.

“I know right?! That was my first question!” Lance laughs, glad the tension in the room is dissipating. “Answer’s no. No tail.”

“Thank God,” Keith adds with a whisper. Shiro puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“You look healthy at least,” Shiro comments.

“A healthy shade of purple!” Hunk chuckles and pats his shoulder with a laugh.

“Can I get a tissue sample? I want to look at your genetic code under a bioscan,” Pidge gets on her tiptoes to inspect his face closely. “Look at his eyes...they’re reflective. Can you see in the dark? I wonder if there’s anyway to isolate that particular genetic trait to create an injection that temporarily replicates the effects of night vision.”

He can’t believe how quickly Pidge and Hunk are to accept his new peculiarities, to just roll with it. Maybe they sense his unease and are trying to put his worries to rest with their playful prodding and harmless curiosity. It’s welcome to the alternative. Even though Shiro adds nothing else the warm hand on his shoulder is comforting. Assures him that Shiro is there to support him, that he was always going to be.

Keith’s relief becomes obvious from the way he lets out a breath and manages a pathetic smile. Hunk makes a joke about his vampire teeth poking out and the others laugh. Why did he think for even a minute that the team would reject him? They’ve been working together for so long. They know it’s still him.

Keith’s eyes fall on Allura, still sitting on the couch. Her jaw tight and posture rigid, her hands clasped tight in her lap. Coran keeps looking at her and back to the team, as if waiting for a reaction. She suddenly stands and Coran jumps up as if to stop a rant. But Allura says nothing, she simply marches out of the room, stern look on her face.

“Princess,” Coran sighs, dejectedly. “Shiro, can you--”

“I’ll talk to her, Coran,” Shiro, nods. He gives Keith a pat on the shoulder and a sympathetic smile before chasing after her.

“Sorry Keith,” Coran shakes his head.

“I kind of expected this,” Keith shrugs. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt though. “It’s understandable, with what the Galra have done.”

“It is understandable but it’s...it’s no excuse,” Coran sighs, running a hand through his hair. “She doesn’t have the experiences I’ve had with the Galra. I’ve known many over the years, many good loyal friends. And you’ve proven to be a good friend to this team, and even to the Princess and I. That’s more than enough for me.”

“But?” Lance senses the caveat.

“She holds onto her anger,” Coran shakes his head. “She’s let Zarkon color her perception of all Galra. It...it may take the Princess some time to adjust.”

“Keith’ll show her,” Pidge pipes up after turning Keith’s hand over her hands, inspecting his fingers. No fingerprints, huh. He tugs out of her hold with a huff. “He’s a little standoffish but Keith’s a good guy. She’ll see.”

“I sure hope so,” Coran nods, eyeing the door Allura stomped out of. “For the team’s sake.”

Hunk wonders aloud if Galra have special dietary needs and if he needs to change up the menu at meals for Keith. He’s never made Galra food. Before Keith can object Coran is three sentences into lecturing them on Galra physiology. He even talks about some of his favorite Galran recipes. Hunk’s already taking notes on food and larger portion sizes.

“Not necessary,” Keith shakes his head and pulls the little bottle he’s stocked from the larger one. He opens it and gives one to Pidge to inspect. “Been taking these. Don’t change anything.”

“Aww, no fun,” Hunk sighs. He was so looking forward to new recipes.

Lance is glad things went so well. Everyone seems fine, with the exception of Allura and he’s sure she’ll come around. She has to. They know Keith’s still Keith. It’s only a matter of time before she comes to same conclusion.

Hunk is announces he’s determined to make at least one of the recipes and talks with Coran about what they have on board to duplicate some of the meals. Pidge is still squinting and looking at all the changes with a curious eyes. Snapping her fingers to see if his ears twitch in their direction. They do.

“Fascinating,” Pidge hums.

“Glad you think so,” Keith raises a brow.

“Of course we think so,” Hunk grins. “Huh, You’re Galra. All this time you were an alien and you had to leave earth to find out. Ironic.”

“I’m not an--” he starts but cuts himself off.

Born on Earth but to an extraterrestrial parent...does that make him an Earthling? Or an alien? He’s not sure how that works and it hurts his head to think about it.

“See Keith,” Lance leans in with a whisper. “Told you it was all going to be okay.”

Keith wishes he could feel that way.

He still can’t help but worry about Allura. How long will it take for her to realize he’s still trustworthy? That he’s not Zarkon. He doesn’t think she can stop him from piloting the Red Lion. Only Red can do that and in all this time she hasn’t barred him entry. But Allura won’t be happy about a Galra piloting her father’s lion and may even be vocal about it.

Hopefully Shiro can talk to her. Explain things.

Ugh, and that’s not even the only thing on his mind!

Just because the team is okay doesn’t mean he’s happy about his situation. Yes, he’s still himself but...this body of his...He’s still unhappy with its changes, dislikes looking down and seeing purple flesh. It’s disconcerting to look at his reflection and expect his normal eyes only to find different ones looking back at him. If it were up to him he’d like his old body back so he wouldn’t feel so dysphoric.

“You okay? Your ears…” Pidge points at them.

They’re flattened against his head, as if he truly were a cat announcing his displeasure. And no matter what he does he finds he has little control over them. Great, another ‘fun’ quirk.

“I’m fine,” Keith tells them.

“You look worried,” Hunk comments. “Thinking about Allura again?”

“Yeah,” Keith says, sticking his purple hands into his pockets just so he won’t have to look at them.

“She can’t avoid you forever. She has to eat and join team meetings,” Pidge points out. “After spending more time with all of us, with you, she’ll see nothing’s really changed. Oh! We should do a game or something.”

Keith nods to appear agreeable but his mind is elsewhere. He has to think Allura’s going over every conversation they’ve ever had together. Looking for the obvious clues to his nature. Picking apart his sentences and looking for deception hidden in his words. Berating herself for trusting him. He can understand her anger at his lying about it...though he’s surprised she’s the only one holding it against him.

If he were Lance, he’d be furious.

“Today’s been quite a whirlwind!” Coran chuckles and claps his hands. “Keith probably wants to take a break from all this attention, hmm?”

The Altean’s read his mind and he nods.

“Let’s disperse for now. Get to work on a few things before we make the trip to the Blade of Marmora headquarters,” Coran twists his mustache.

A good idea. Pidge and Hunk are reticent to leave, as they want to know more about Keith’s changes but they obey. The two of them leave while hypothesizing about what Galra blood looks like under a scan and Pidge exclaims she can’t wait to break down the components of Keith’s pill.

Lance gives him a nudge and nods at the door but Coran coughs, getting their attention.

“Keith, I may not be Galra but I have plenty of knowledge from years of interacting with them. You may want to stop by sometime for some biological insight that even you may not be aware of,” Coran tells him. “Especially if the two of you are...hmm, well, having intercourse.”

Lance nearly chokes on his tongue, his cheeks turning red. Keith doesn’t seem affected in the least.

“We haven’t--” Lance stutters.

“Oh? Not quite there are we?” Coran chuckles. “Well, just as well. Might be prudent to study up anyway.”

“Why?” Lance swallows, trying to ignore the fact that they are talking about intimate matters.

Keith lids his eyes and looks away, entirely aware to what Coran is referring.

“Ah, nevermind then! Keith knows. Which would explain why you haven’t gone that far. How respectful and responsible of you,” Coran winks. “Well, I’m going to leave now and make some adjustments on the teladuv! Ho ho ho!”

Coran leaves with a jig in his step and Lance just stares confused until the door closes behind him. What on Earth is he talking about? What about biology would stop them from--Lance’s eyes go wide.

“Oh. Oh!!” Lance realizes, hands to his head as his mind explodes. “Holy shit! You’re Galra!”

“Yeah, Lance, that’s been established,” Keith sighs.

“That documentary! You--oh!” Lance covers his mouth and then uncovers to whisper, “Super semen!”

Keith snorts despite his mood and shakes his head. He figured Lance would come to that conclusion after really absorbing all that’s happened. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to bringing it up.

Is Lance still going to want to fuck after all this? Looking at himself, if he were Lance he’d be hesitant. If his body feels foreign to him he can only imagine how strange it’ll feel to Lance. He won’t even blame him if he’s averse to it now.

“Oh man,” Lance says, his mind running through their interactions. “That’s why you didn’t want to...uh, in my mouth...wow.”

“Yeah,” Keith looks down.

“Then you’ve known for longer than I thought,” Lance muses.

“Sorry,” Keith apologizes, his ears going flat again.

“You don’t have to say you’re sorry,” Lance shakes his head. “You were...you were looking out for me long before...well. Before you admitted you cared. Says a lot about you Keith.”

Lance looks at those low ears, broadcasting Keith’s emotions, and reaches out to pat Keith’s head. The involuntary response is them perking up and Keith feels embarrassed to be a slave to his new ears betraying him so he shrinks away from the touch. Lance laughs and moves to scratch behind his ears to which Keith swats his hand away.

“What? They sensitive?” Lance waggles his brows.

“No,” Keith huffs. “Just not in the mood, Lance.”

“Shame. I bet they are,” Lance eyes them. “Can I touch them later? Tonight?”

“I dunno. Maybe. If you still really want to,” Keith sighs deprecatingly.

“Hey,” Lance softens his eyes and frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Keith grumbles and turns. “I’m...gonna go work on Red.”

Lance doesn’t try to stop him. It’s one of those things again, where Keith has a lot of things on his mind. It’s definitely not nothing. Lance knows Keith doesn’t like his body and if that was the only thing bothering him he’d say as much. No...there’s something else and he gets the feeling it has to do with Lance touching him now.

*****

The inside of the cockpit feels safe. From prying eyes and curious questions and uninvited contact. No one can come in unless he allows it, which is what he wants right now. To be alone and unbothered. No noise and no eyes staring. A chance to just breathe and think.

Keith leans back in his seat and takes a deep breath.

“Did you always know Red?” he asks aloud. “About me?”

The atmosphere feels no different from usual. Red’s presence inside is just as encompassing as it has always been. It makes him feel like the answer is ‘yes’ and if that’s the case it brings a small smile to his face. If Red always knew then she chose a Galra despite all the tragedy and devastation unleashed by Zarkon.

She chose him because he’s meant to be the red paladin. Because she trusts him.

“You’re a good friend Red,” Keith sighs, his mood improved but not by much.

Unbidden a screen pops up on the main console. Image files synced up from his archives. Pictures plaster the screen as Keith sits up. They’re everything he’s saved of him and Lance. Training together. Close and smiling. Laughing. Keith looks away and shakes his head. She’s just trying to help but...

“Red, thanks but…” Keith tries to explain while clearing the screens one by one. “...I don’t need this right now.”

He doesn’t need the reminder. That things couldn’t be more different now. He couldn’t be more different. She pops up one more and it stills his hand.

The Olkarion sunset and Lance kissing his cheek.

It’s like looking in on someone else’s life. It wasn’t even that long ago but it feels so distant. That’s not him anymore, he has to remind himself. Every picture, every video taken after this point will look...wrong to him now. Not as full and wholesome as before. Only a fraction of who he was.

_You look...perfect._

Keith remembers the awe with which Lance said that. Bound and blindfolded, flushed and shivering at the blue paladin’s touch. Lance thought he was perfect the way he was, before all this. With a grimacing frown he looks at his fingers, at his eyes in the reflective surfaces, and those twitching ears.

He must be so disappointed.

He doesn’t even like looking at himself, how can Lance see him and not see a stranger now? While he was delirious during his change, he distinctly remembers a moment where Lance recoiled, disturbed by what he saw. Fear as he shrunk back. Nothing like the adoring gaze in the picture currently on his screen.

Is Lance putting up a front? Pretending it doesn’t bother him?

Knock! Knock!

Is someone...knocking on the outside of the lion? Keith clears his screens of everything and checks the outer camera. He swears if it’s Lance he’s--Oh, it’s Shiro.

Shiro always knows where to find him, even as a kid he could locate him hiding out in the desert. Keith isn’t sure he wants company but Red opens up the cockpit when he doesn’t do it himself and Shiro climbs on in.

“Thought you might be in here,” Shiro smiles. “You alright?”

“Fine,” Keith tells him, turning his head away from Shiro but eyeing him. “Allura doing okay?”

The look on his face says it didn’t go as well as he hoped.

“It...it’s a process,” Shiro shrugs with an uncomfortable smile. “She’ll come to terms with it eventually. How’s Lance?”

“Entirely too optimistic about _this_ ,” Keith shakes his head while gesturing to himself.

“He cares about you,” Shiro chuckles and pats his shoulder. “He wants to keep your spirits up.”

“Or he’s going through the motions for the sake of the team,” Keith says bitterly. “Can’t have Voltron falling apart because I’m compromised.”

“Keith, you don’t actually think that do you?” Shiro furrows his brow with concern.

After a pause Keith shakes his head, face guilt ridden and ears flat.

“Is that what’s got you worried?” Shiro asks, taking a knee to get level with him.

“He looked like he was scared of me before,” Keith admits. “Terrified. And now he’s being his usual self. Friendly. I don’t know what to believe.”

“Well, this development is pretty shocking. I’m still a little thrown by it honestly,” Shiro tells him. “It probably just caught him off guard. Think about it Keith, have you known Lance to be the dishonest type?”

No. Lance always just says what’s on his mind. Like everything on his mind, even when it was unasked for. There were times when everyone wished he’d just keep his thoughts to himself. Keith shakes his head no to answer Shiro.

“Then maybe he deserves the benefit of the doubt,” Shiro says giving his shoulder a squeeze. “Anything else you want to tell me? To get off your chest?”

He can’t imagine there’s anything he can tell him that the black paladin could help with. This doesn’t exactly happen to everyone. Shiro’s never had to deal with something like this before. He has very little overlapping experiences to draw on. Well, almost none. Shiro’s machine arm catches his eye and Keith looks down at his own hands.

“You ever feel like...your body isn’t yours?” Keith asks then nods at Shiro’s arm. “Do you ever...hate it?”

Shiro’s eyes go soft and somber. He looks at his arm lets out a sigh.

“Sure,” he tells him and flexes the fingers. “Some days more than others.”

“What do you do on those days?” Keith asks as he hugs his knees. He feels like a little kid again getting advice after a fist fight at school. Shiro’s gentle tone hasn’t changed at all since then.

“Ha, well. There’s nothing I can do about my arm now. I just focus on what I can control,” Shiro shrugs and scratches his chin. “Sometimes it’s as simple as a few pull ups, to remind myself that I tell my body what to do. Meditation helps on some days. Or I say a few words in the mirror to affirm my thoughts. Something to take ownership of myself.”

Working out isn’t going to change how Keith looks. Meditation isn’t really his thing...and looking in the mirror only serves to remind him of how helpless he is to change anything. He could try to encourage himself into feeling better but he’d never believe a word that came out of his own mouth. Shiro means well but this isn’t that helpful.

“And if those things don’t work?” Keith wonders.

“On those days...I just need the encouragement of a trusted friend,” Shiro smiles, a blush on his cheeks. “When I can’t believe in myself, I can always believe her. Trust her to say the right thing. Even if she is the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”

Keith manages a smile that makes his canines peek out. Shiro eyes them and smiles back. In shame he quickly maneuvers his lips to cover them again before letting out a sigh.

“Thanks Shiro…” Keith nods. “I guess...I’ll give some of those a try.”

*****

Lance spends most of the next varga just tidying up their room. Keith’s made it no secret that he likes a clean room and while Lance isn’t the best at keeping things organized he feels compelled to do something while Keith’s gone. Maybe it’ll perk him up.

He starts with clothes. Picks them up off the floor, haphazardly folding them and putting them away in drawers. One of the drawers has a plethora of extra snacks in them that he had no idea were there. Guess it goes to show how often he uses them. It still blows his mind that Keith bought him all those things. With a smile he pulls out a slim jim and eats it slowly as he checks the other drawers.

Movies in the next one. Oh man, they still need to watch Robocop. Lance frowns and wonders if a movie will make Keith feel better. Always makes him feel better and Robocop is chock full of gratuitous violence and gore. What’s not to like?

He slides it closed then makes the bed and gives the pillows a fluff. He then puts their armor in order on the table with the boots underneath. Keith’s ebook sits at the foot of the bed so he scoops it off the floor so it doesn’t get stepped on. Lance thinks to put it in the last drawer for safety and spots something new.

“What is…”

A bottle? Lance pulls it out but the label is unreadable. His curiosity piqued, he opens the cap and squirts a drop out. Sticky and slick.

“It’s lube,” Lance blinks then flushes. There’s a box too, that he can only assume are condoms.

Oh man, they could do all sorts of stuff now. Keith’s a little moody but maybe in a couple of days he could...bring it up? That’s if he even wants Lance to touch him. He frowns, the memoriy of Keith receding from his fingers and smacking his hand away still fresh in his mind.

The door opens suddenly to admit Keith entry. Lance drops the bottle with a squeak and shuts the drawer with his foot. Keith’s yellow eyes look at the drawer and then him with uncertainty before looking around at the room.

“I was just--”

“You cleaned,” Keith scans the room, avoiding eye contact. “Thanks”

“Sure,” Lance nods and sidles closer to him. “You feeling better? Seemed a little mad at me earlier.”

“No, I was...I’m just mad a this,” Keith admits while gesturing to himself. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, you wanna...take a shower? Or a nap or something? I can get you some food if you’re hungry,” Lance offers. “Whatever you need, I’ll go get it.”

Lance really is too accommodating. Genuinely comforting. Not even a semblance of dishonesty or hidden motives in his suggestions. No fear. Keith takes his hands out of his jacket and steps calmly across the room until he’s in front of Lance but his eyes stay lowered. He wants to say something but he’s not sure what.

“Keith?”

Lance places a hand on his shoulder and Keith looks up nervously, afraid Lance is going to flinch at the sight of his yellow eyes again. He doesn’t. Lance cups the back of his neck and massages his fingers at his hairline. For a moment he hesitates but Keith doesn’t think it’s cause Lance is scared.

“Do you want me to stop?” Lance asks. “Before...felt like you didn’t want me touch you. Like it made you uneasy. And if that’s the case...I'll stop.”

“It’s not that...I…” Keith mumbles.

Keith’s not sure how to explain it to Lance. That because he’s uncomfortable in his body, a touch of any kind just reminds him he’s not the same. He feels the hairs on his skin move with each brush of fingers where he wouldn’t have noticed before. He can feel each time his ears tilt where they never moved before, making him keenly aware of how different things are now. And knowing that Lance can feel all those changes too...

It’s disheartening.

He already feels gross enough and the idea that Lance might not enjoy the changes makes him sick to his stomach. His gut churns at just the thought of Lance forcing himself to make contact with him because he feels obligated to do so. It’s just easier to cut it off at the pass, avoid touching altogether.

“I didn’t want you to feel like you had to,” Keith says looking away. “Not with all that’s…”

“Uh, Keith, you know me. I don’t do anything I don’t want to,” Lance laughs, his fingers twirling in his hair. “I’m selfish like that. And selfishly, I’d like to kiss my boyfriend right now.”

“Your _Galra_ boyfriend,” Keith corrects, distaste on his tongue at the word.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Lance points and leans in. “So, can I?”

He really wants to? Keith feels his cheeks heat up and he has to wonder what he looks like when he blushes now. Red cheeks? Magenta ones? Can he even blush now? Lance’s face gives him the answer by mirroring his reaction with a blush on his own stunned face.

“Wow...uh...that’s...really cute,” Lance clears his throat.

“Shut up, Lance,” Keith flushes, his cheeks turning darker violet.

“There’s Keith,” Lance grins. “I knew you’d show up eventually.”

He leans in and tilts Keith’s chin up for a kiss. Soft warm kisses, gentle pecks that morph into nibbles on Keith’s lips encouraging him to open up his mouth. He parts his lips and Lance slips his tongue in with a sigh. Still tastes so good.

Lance pushes Keith slowly to the wall and presses his body against him. If Keith needed another indication that Lance sincerely wants to bone him regardless of his appearance, the bulge pressing against his own suffices. Keith’s hands go to Lance’s hips and dip into his jeans. He grips tight and relaxes into the inviting warmth of Lance’s hold.

“I uh, found the lube. And the condoms,” Lance comments, a flush on his face.

“Yeah, so? Want me to do you?” Keith asks and Lance chokes out a cough, making Keith smirk.

“I uh...okay, not that I don’t want to,” Lance explains. “Cause I would...really, _really_ like to. What you do with your tongue is...it feels good. More than good. But uh...can we work our way up to _that_? I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“I could show you on me,” Keith suggests and grazes his sharp teeth against Lance’s neck making him shiver. “Show you how to get ready for it.”

“Y-Yeah?” Lance licks his lips. “I could watch you again? Right now?”

“If you want,” Keith shrugs.

The prospect of watching Keith finger his ass in front of him, showing him how to prepare for anal...it’s quite the tempting image. Keith moaning and pressing slick fingers in, inviting Lance to fill him...Oh, boy...Lance’s erection presses harder against the confines of his pants. He’s eager to get started and makes a move to proceed to the bed.

An announcement over the castle speakers interrupts them.

“Lance, you still got the projector? We’re still watching Robocop,” says Hunk. “Bring it and the disk to the common room. I already made snacks so be there in like five dobashes!”

Lance groans out a long aggravated noise, disappointed they have to stop. He did promise them all that they’d watch the movie after Keith got over his flu. Nothing’s really changed. What he wouldn’t give to just keep going. He gives Keith another long heady kiss while his hand slips slowly up his shirt on soft skin.

“Aren’t you going to--”

“Yeah, but we’ve got, what, like ten minutes?” Lance hints. “Can I…”

Lance tugs at Keith’s waistband a little, fumbling with the button and zipper. Keith gets the idea. They don’t have time for what he really wants to do but this could hold them over for a bit. He gives him the go ahead and Lance slides down Keith’s pants as he goes to his knees.

Keith’s already pretty hard and leans back against the wall to brace himself. This is a good view, he notes as he looks down. Lance’s eyes lidded, licking his lips excitedly as he reveals Keith’s length. It’s reassuring to see the look on Lance’s face hasn’t changed when he sees that purple cock. Lance grasps him at the base and laves the tip in long sweeping licks, like Keith’s a lollipop.

“Does this mean...you’ll let me have it now?” Lance asks between laps of his tongue. "Like all of it?"

“If you really want it,” Keith breathes.

Lance nods as he sinks Keith’s cock into his wet mouth with a grateful moan. Keith closes his eyes and relaxes as Lance sucks away. It’s easier to enjoy if he doesn’t have to look down at that stark reminder of his purple skin even if he does lose sight of Lance’s skillful mouth wrapped around him. He can almost pretend everything is the same as it was.

“Ah...Lance…” Keith sighs.

Lance strokes the base and sucks on the head making Keith shudder. He’s better than he was, more enthusiastic. So eager to please. Keith reaches down and threads his fingers into Lance’s hair, eliciting a moan from him. The blue paladin pulls off to suck hard on his balls, getting both in his greedy mouth, making Keith gasp.

“How am I...doing?” Lance asks after popping them out of his mouth and returning to cock.

“You’re...doing good...so good, Lance,” Keith sighs. He chances a look down and all he sees is Lance flushed red face, hungrily lapping up precome from his cock.

“I like that...when you...say things like that,” Lance pants as he shoves Keith’s cock deep in his mouth as far as it will go without choking himself. Keith arches against the wall with a sharp gasp and grips tighter on Lance’s hair.

“When I...what? Praise you?” Keith almost chuckles.

Lance nods with a needy moan, his mouth full of cock and blushing even redder when Keith didn’t think it possible. Most people like dirty talk...but Lance wants praise. Given a stamp of approval. Validated and told that he’s doing something right. Lance getting off to being praised isn’t the strangest thing he’s heard, in fact it makes sense.

All that rivalry and fighting to get what he really wanted, someone’s approval. Anyone’s. Why wouldn’t it translate in the bedroom as well? And Keith’s finding he doesn’t mind obliging him. In truth, he finds Lance’s reaction makes him hotter too.

“Lance, ah...take me deeper...that’s it, good,” Keith bites at his lips, looking down on Lance. He pats his head and massages his fingers into his scalp, getting a happy sigh from him. “Look so good...That's  _my_ Lance.”

That does something, making Lance let out a stricken whine on top of his cock, his brows furrowed high and cheeks hollowed as he sucks harder. Lance looks so good when he’s submissive and needy. Too good. Keith’s moments away from releasing into that panting mouth when he realizes they're out of time. 

“Lance,” Keith groans, displeased. “We gotta...stop. The team’s waiting.”

“P-Please?” Lance pleads, weakly. “I’ll...I’ll b-beg, please…”

God, he almost goes back on it. Almost gives in to those puppy eyes and that desperate begging tone. Hearing him beg like that, like Keith's withholding air from him...God, he wants to give Lance everything he wants and then some. To see the smile he’d give when full of...Keith bites his tongue and the pain takes him out of it enough to insist.

“I don’t think you should go to the movie after sampling me,” Keith manages to say. “We’ll draw attention and...I don’t want to be stared at more than I already am.”

Lance strokes him as he takes in those words, the effects of what he’s already tasted slowing his process considerably. He pinches his eyes shut and shakes his head trying to think straight.

He’s only had a tiny bit before and it made him hornier than he could imagine. Made him sensitive and bubbly. If he hadn’t been bound there’s no way he could have kept his hands off of Keith, even now he keeps rubbing his thumbs up and down the divots of his hips. Keeps rubbing his face on his leg to feel that soft skin and sliding a tongue up his inner thigh to taste his flesh.

If he takes the full amount...he won’t be able to make it through the opening credits without wanting more. Grasping at Keith’s body begging for him to get him off. Hot and horny the entire film and making more than just eyes at him. Keith doesn’t want that kind of attention and neither does Lance.

Keith’s right. It’s a terrible idea.  
  
“Lance,” Keith calls down, tapping his head with his fingers and trying to wake him from his thoughts.

“Yeah...yeah, it’s...You’re right. I’ll wait,” Lance agrees, though it takes considerable self-control to resist one more lick.

“Good,” Keith sighs and helps him up.

He fixes his pants, knowing it’ll take a moment to relax the full salute in his jeans. A splash of cold water on his face helps get rid of the violet flush on his cheeks. Lance joins him, doing the same to cool the heat in his own cheeks and the throbbing in his pants.

“What about when we get back? After?” Lance asks.

“I have something different planned,” Keith admits. He’s still very much up for a little teaching session. Nothing like fucking himself on his own fingers to show Lance the logistics of anal sex. “If you’re still up for it.”

Lance’s face brightens with sudden memory and he nods.

When they’re relaxed again the two of them heft up the projector with the disc precariously balanced on top and carry it together to the common room. By the time they set it all up, Hunk enters with a bowl of snacks. Coran has a tray of drinks and puts them in the center of the table. Pidge takes her seat, puts her feet up and eats a handful of chips before they even start earning a scolding from Hunk.

Keith catches them staring at him but they’re trying their hardest not to be obnoxious. It’ll take some getting used to before they can look over at Keith and remember that he’s different now. He’s accepted that every once in awhile he’ll look up and someone will flinch because they forgot how yellow his eyes are. Hunk looks apologetic when it happens which goes a long way to making Keith feel better.

Shiro comes in when they’re settling in. They all look to him, their eyes asking the question they're all thinking. He shakes his head with a shrug, not certain the Princess will be joining them. Keith looks away, ears low. Feels like it’s his fault that Shiro won’t get to spend time with Allura. Lance pats his shoulder to reassure him before getting comfortable, leaning against him.

“It’s her loss,” Lance whispers.

But it’s Keith’s loss too.

He had a friend who now doesn’t even want to be in the same room as him. A friend that relied on him in battle and now she won’t even talk to him. And now it feels like he’s created a schism between Allura and the rest of the team, especially Shiro, simply because of his presence.

The last thing he wants is anyone taking sides when they should all be on the same team.

The door opens to reveal Allura standing there. Shiro looks pleased as she crosses the room to sit between him and Pidge. Everyone gives her an appreciative look, glad she decided to join them. Her eyes flick to Keith and before he can nod at her, to show he’s glad to see her there too, she narrows them and pointedly looks away to view the screen.

“Two steps forward, one back,” Keith sighs.

“At least she came,” Lance points out. “It’s progress.”

It does make him feel a little less like he’s ruining the whole event. So he grabs a drink and straps in to enjoy the movie with everyone, trying his best to pretend nothing is different.

Nothing at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
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> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pack your fan and prepare your fainting couch...things get hot in this chapter...

The movie goes well. Plenty of laughs to be had amongst them all.

Pidge and Hunk together comment on the impossibility of such an android operation in the time period the movie was made in. Coran and Allura staunchly object, saying with Altean technology not only would it have been more than possible, it would hardly look robotic at all. Shiro only comments that he loved the movie as a kid and wonders why his parents ever let him watch it in the first place. More than once he paled at the ridiculous amount of blood and viscera.

“This was wonderful,” Allura giggles. “A strange, violent and very graphic film but enjoyable! Thank you for bringing it, Lance.”

“Actually...Hunk made the projector and Keith bought the movie,” Lance comments.

“It was all Keith’s idea,” Hunk deflects. “I just followed his lead.”

Allura stiffens and eyes Keith sitting on the edge of the other couch. He makes eye contact with her and she visibly flinches. She recovers her composure just as quickly with a deep breath, Shiro’s hand gently encouraging her at her back.

“Well, thank you both,” Allura manages but not while looking in Keith’s direction. “How much time before dinner, Hunk?”

“Oh man! I already have that recipe Coran told me about in one of the cooking units. Some type of Galra steak thing, smells so good,” Hunk gushes, making heart eyes at the very thought.

“Ah yes! Koe Steak! Or at least a more modern version. The beast it's originally from hasn’t existed in decapheebs,” Coran twists his stache. “Should taste fine with what we have though.”

“Wait...what ever happened to Kaltenecker?” Lance blanches and Keith pats his head with a snort.

“Don’t worry Lance, your cow is safe on one of the nearby planets,” Shiro assures him.

Lance relaxes as the team laughs. Even Allura laughs. It almost feels normal, at least until her eyes fall on Keith again. Then she’s suddenly quiet and avoiding his eyes. Shiro gives her a sympathetic smile and nods his head towards the group, encouraging her to interact.

“I was thinking...I’d like to learn more about you all. Perhaps through some of your Earth Bonding games,” Allura says quietly. Her meek tone feels off to everyone as she normally just speaks her mind. It sounds like she’s reticent to speak but pushes herself through it anyway. “Do you have any we can play, as a group? Perhaps sometime tomorrow?”

This starts up a series of conversations that Keith doesn’t contribute to as he’s not one for games in general. Plus it seems easier for Allura to talk to them all when he isn’t looking their way. For her comfort, he simply says nothing and tries not to draw attention to himself any more than necessary.

Lance suggests Twister while Hunk mentions Red Rover, picking games that play to their strengths. Pidge pipes up with Sardines, saying no one can beat her at it. Shiro admits tag was always fun when he was a kid. 

“What about you Keith?” Coran asks. “Any Earth games you’d like to give a try?”

He was trying to stay out of this conversation but everyone looks at him expectantly, minus one.

“Uh...” Keith hesitates. “I never really played games.”

He didn’t have a lot of friends growing up. And being an orphan didn’t exactly allow for a lot of family adventures. He was forced to grow up too fast for children’s games. 

“You used to play Gin,” Shiro suddenly recalls. “And Poker. You were decent at those I remember.”

He’s better at Solitaire but mentioning that feels demoralizing and against the point. Not to mention embarrassing. Of course, the loner likes to play Solitaire. 

“We don’t have any cards,” Keith points out. 

“We don’t have a Twister mat either but I’m sure Pidge can swing something. Can’t you Pidge?” Lance asks and the green paladin nods.

Coran asks Keith to explain how Poker works and for the next ten minutes he describes a deck of cards and the things in it. Necessary before explaining the logistics of Poker, specifically Texas Hold’em since it’s the only version Keith’s familiar enough with to teach others. Coran nods and asks pertinent questions while Allura only half listens, her eyes focused on a distant point.

“It’s easier if you have a grasp of math and probability and statistics,” Pidge adds. “No guarantees though.”

“Math?” Allura perks up, her eyes alight. “It’s a math game?”

“Not really, but knowing how to hedge your odds in your favor certainly improves the chances of winning,” Hunk informs her. “I’m not great but I’m not bad either. I’m down for some Poker.”

“You could know everything about the game and still lose because your luck is lousy,” Pidge grumbles. It sounds like she has an axe to grind against Poker in general. “I’ll play it, because statistically I  _ should  _ be REALLY good at it...but I’ve yet to win consistently. Maybe against some newbies, I’ll manage it for once.”

They finally come to a decision on three different games to try. Lance’s Twister suggestion receives some good feedback, as well as Pidge’s Sardines. They’re fairly simple games and easy to learn and play. Shiro suggests they give Poker a try as well since it is a good strategy game and the team can alway use more practice in that department. Plus after running around, it’ll feel nice to kick back at the end of the day with a non-physical game.

Keith knows those aren’t the real reasons. He can see it in Shiro’s eyes. He wants them to play Keith’s game, to make him feel included. He appreciates the sentiment, giving Shiro a small smile. 

Hunk says he’ll get to work on making some playing cards while Pidge designs a new program for them to give Twister a try on. But after dinner, as he’s still gotta check on the slow cooked steaks in the kitchen and put together some complimentary vegetable dish. Until then, they can just do whatever.

“I suppose I’ll return to the bridge for a few software scans and engine systems check,” Allura says as she stands. “Coran, can you send me a report on the teladuv’s current power levels?”

“Right on it Princess,” Coran salutes and heads for the door.

Hunk reminds them all that food will be ready before they know it. Then clarifies the exact amount of time, and that it’ll be two vargas, give or take five dobashes. Pidge is already tapping away on her holo-screen and designing the twister board, including a randomizer for the spinner.

Nothing left to do except wait for food.

“Want to head back to the room?” Keith asks, and it takes a second for Lance to remember.

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah,” Lance clears his throat, barely preventing a blush on his face. “Definitely.”

Keith pulls Lance to his feet and the blue paladin, without missing a beat, wraps an arm around his shoulder as they walk out. 

They talk a little about the movie along the way. Favorite lines. Favorite parts. Lance is a particular fan of the moment Robocop clotheslined the armed robber at the convenience store. It doesn’t surprise Lance to find that Keith’s favorite part was when Dick Jones got fired and shot through the windows of a high rise. No better ending for the villain.

Once the door to their room closes behind them Lance turns and lays a nice long kiss on Keith. He tugs at Keith’s jacket to pull it off and manages to toss it right onto the nearby chair. Already he’s pulling at Keith’s shirt to strip him of that too.

“You’re eager,” Keith smirks.

“Hell yeah. What first, Teach?” Lance winks at him.

“First things first,” Keith winces against the bright light.

Keith’s hand palms the wall until he can dim them a little, making it less stressful on his sensitive eyes. All the fluorescent lights are killing him. Might have to talk to someone about some shades he can wear about the ship until he gets used to them.

He lets Lance help strip off his clothes, pulling his shirt off with interspersed kisses down his body. He keeps expecting some kind of hesitation from Lance but he goes from lips to neck to kissing down his chest with barely a breath between them. Keith waves him off, telling him to go ahead and take a seat on the chair. Lance drags one over next to their bed in no time at all. 

Keith crawls onto the bed reaching for the drawer, looking over his shoulder at Lance, making sure he really wants to keep going. A goofy grin greets him as leans back in the chair, arms clasped behind his head, taking in Keith’s dark, naked body on the stage that is their mattress. Guess he really does.

“Feels like a peep show,” says Lance suggestively.

It’s highly doubtful Lance has ever been to one. Probably referencing porn again. With a roll of his eyes, Keith sighs and gives his head a shake. 

“Just watch for now,” Keith tells him. “We’ll worry about the rest later.”

Lance nods his understanding and Keith loses no time. He snatches the lube from the drawer before squirting a liberal amount onto his fingers, spreading it around. Lance’s eyes go wide as he twists his arm behind him and down between his cheeks, curving his finger into his ass.

The ragged sigh that comes out of Keith...Lance’s jaw drops and his breath catches as he watches a single finger press into that puckered asshole. He slides in, then pauses for a moment before sliding back out again, all the while letting out subdued moans. Then repeats the process again with those slick fingers.  
  
“Oh boy,” Lance bites his lip. Keith told him to watch but didn’t say anything about other things he could do. 

Lance unzips his pants and works himself out into his hand. He’s not about to sit there and do nothing as Keith pleasures himself right in front of him. He doesn’t need much encouragement from his stroking hand to get hard. Keith notices him leaning leisurely back, eyes on his ass, and biting into his bottom lip as he sighs and strokes. 

Good to know this is getting Lance off. Keith licks his lips as he presses deeper, lowering his face to a pillow as he raises his ass higher.

“Ah!” Keith groans, getting in deep, up to his knuckle. “The key is...to stay...relaxed.”

Lance swallows and nods, listening to the noises Keith makes as he works his ass. Stretches it slowly. Plunging that finger in and out at a leisurely pace. He’d forgotten how good it is to have something in there again. He sits there and plays with himself a bit before moving on.

“Next,” Keith pants, remembering he’s supposed to be teaching Lance how to do this and not just getting himself worked up. “Next, you add...another.”

Lance nods again, listening but mostly watching as Keith slathers his fingers again and presses two inside. Keith gasps and sighs as he works two fingers inside, the pressure of his walls closing in on them. Lance can’t look away as the fingers pump in and out, dripping lube down his balls and onto the bed. It looks so slick, wet and inviting.

“H-How many...do you put in?” Lance asks as he pumps his length. He’s finding he’s panting just as hard as Keith is, imagining the kind of pressure that must put on a cock. His head drips a little with precome, so Lance just smoothes it over the rest of his length with a sigh.

“For your dick...three,” Keith sighs answering him. He slides a third finger in easily, plenty of lube to make the addition painless. He gasps as he adjusts to the feeling, the pressure of fullness and all of it under Lance’s entranced gaze.

Keith curls his fingers in and moans into the pillow as his ass is opened up. God, it's been so long since he’s gotten off this way. And it’s even better with Lance watching, enraptured by the image of Keith fingering himself. Only makes his own dick hard and heavy seeing Lance’s flushed face as he masturbates to the show.

But what he wouldn’t give for Lance to up and join him.

“Once stretched out...you can…” Keith shudders and lets out a whine. “F-fuck…”

“Something wrong?” Lance asks.

“N-No...I’m just...” Keith rasps. 

He’s just so fucking sensitive. Hasn’t been fucked in over a year. Most of his escapades recently had been him fucking others. Or just giving and getting blowjobs. Honestly, if Lance crawls over and pushes into him he won’t last long. Especially if Lance is any good. 

He tries slowing down on his plunging fingers but it barely drags it out. Just makes him shake harder with need. And he wants to be filled, fully and deep. How hard would it be to convince Lance to just...

“I’m...just thinking about...you f-fucking me…” Keith bites his lip as Lance’s eyes go wide. “God...Lance...I could...”

“You want me to?” Lance asks and Keith nods gasping. “What if I suck?” Lance poses but he’s already shuffling through the drawer for a condom. He didn’t think Lance would agree so quickly.

“You’ve had sex before, r-right?”

“With a girl...like twice,” Lance admits as he rolls the condom on. “I...wasn’t very good. Don’t tell anyone.”

"I’ll take it to my grave if you f-fuck me now,” Keith comes dangerously close to begging for it. 

“I mean, I was alright, it’s just--”

“Lance!” Keith groans, equal parts annoyance and need.

Lance clambers onto the bed behind Keith and swallows down his uncertainty as he places his hands on either side of Keith’s cheeks. This is new territory for him but Keith seems to think he’s ready or he wouldn’t suggest it. And boy, does he want to try this.

“Tell me what to do,” Lance requests, biting nervously into his bottom lip.

“Ease in, slow,” Keith tells him as he removes his fingers.

He takes a deep breath and presses his tip to Keith’s opening. The first two inches slide in like nothing. It’s not until Lance is up to the next couple inches that the pressure of Keith’s walls pushing in on him elicit a reaction from the both of them. They gasp at the feeling and Lance’s fingers tighten on Keith’s cheeks.

“K-Keith,” Lance trembles. “I...god...I…”

“Just keep--ah!--going, Lance,” Keith mewls with every inch that fills him. He can feel his own dick twitching with anticipation, dripping and excited for the eventual thrusting.

He pushes gently until he’s all in and the two of them shudder as they let out a breath. 

Lance can’t believe it. And Holy Crow--does that pressure feel good! This is where he starts thrusting, isn’t it? With his hands still squeezing tight into flesh, he pulls out a few inches and rolls his hips to thrust back in smacking his hips to Keith’s rear. 

The response is immediate.

“L-Lance,” Keith moans, his fists grasping the sheet and his ass raising higher. “D-Don’t stop now, m-moron.”

“R-right!” Lance nods and moves to continue.

Using his hands to help push and pull Keith’s body, Lance steadily thrusts into him. Keith gives him direction quickly enough, telling him to go faster and to push deeper. Lance obeys, giving Keith everything he asks and getting grateful moans in response. Music to Lance’s ears that brings a flush to his face.

It isn’t long before Keith is a quivering mess again. Hair on the back of his neck plastered to his skin. Ears flat against his head and arms shaky from holding himself up. His cock making a leaky pool under his body, desperate for release. 

Lance’s hand snakes its way down between Keith’s legs to grab a hold of him. He barely touches him and Keith’s already gasping. Lance licks his hand before fully seizing him, then strokes in tandem with his thrusts, making Keith buckle to his elbows with a needy moan. 

Who says you can’t learn a thing or two from pornos?

“Lance-I-” Keith muffles his exclamations into the mattress. “F-Fuck...I...”

Lance leans down and nuzzles into his back, breathing him in. Feeling the heat of his body against his cheek as he brings Keith’s pleasure to a head. The only downside to fucking Keith like this is he can’t see his face in the thralls of ecstasy. Can’t look at that beautiful mouth agape and practically drooling as he bucks his hips towards Lance, pleading for more speed. 

A shame this position prevents him from getting his mouthful of come like he wants too. The bed is going to get it all, Lance thinks with a pout. He licks his lips again as his hand pumps Keith’s cock, wet with the little drops of precome he’s coaxing out of him.

Maybe not all of it will go to waste.

He picks up the pace, harder and faster, stroking Keith until his body tenses. Keith’s breath shortens to quick gasps before letting out a wretched wail that almost sounds like Lance’s name as he comes. His sticky semen comes out in sporadic spurts and all over Lance’s hand. He only removes his hand once it stops flowing.

“Finally, I get to taste this without you hogging it all to yourself,” Lance grins and licks his sticky fingers as Keith continues to shiver and pant.

So salty and sweet. Just like he remembers but now there’s far more to enjoy. He sucks it off his fingers, desperate for the flavor on his tongue. It’s heavenly and now that he knows why he can’t wait to taste more on a regular basis. Within moments his face heats up and a giddy dizziness takes over.

“You taste so...so good,” Lance sighs as he laps it off his palms, heady and horny. His breath already getting ragged and now there’s heat pooling into his stomach. “I could...eat it all day,” he grins impishly.

Lance returns to thrusting into Keith with renewed vigor. Whatever chemicals swim around in Keith’s body take over everything in Lance’s. His vision swims but in a delightful way, like floating on clouds. The thrusts bring him flashes of colors he didn’t know existed. His skin is so sensitive to even the slightest touch that each thrust brings out a content moan making his body tremble into coming moments later.

It takes him a moment to release the hold he has on Keith’s ass, his nails digging in and leaving marks. He pants and wheezes, trying to clear his vision enough to see where to go next. Keith waits patiently for Lance to come back to himself, still relishing in his own blissful orgasm.

“That...I can’t believe…” Lance sighs, slowly removing himself from Keith. “...we just had sex...wow.”

“Did you enjoy it?” Keith asks as he rolls over once he’s free, his yellow eyes scanning Lance’s sweaty body. That face is red as a tomato and his eyes unfocused. He’s still shivering slightly but looks like he’s coherent enough to keep from falling over. That look of euphoria still evident in his beaming smile.

“Did I? I’m still enjoying it,” Lance laughs as he removes the condom and tosses it in the nearby trash. “I can see stars and I don’t even care if they’re hallucinations. Can we do it again? Tomorrow?”

“I don’t usually...bottom,” Keith shakes his head. “Takes a certain mood so consider this a special occasion. Plus, my body needs rest. I’m still tired and aching from the change...”

“I gotcha. So was I terrible?” Lance inquires as he fixes up his pants. 

“No, you were...you were pretty good for a first timer,” Keith nods at him with approval. “I should shower. Get the rest of this lube off.”

“Want me to help?” Lance waggles his brows suggestively. 

“No thanks, I’ll never get clean with you bugging me,” Keith smirks and shoves him out of the away. 

“Can I watch?” Lance calls into the bathroom. 

“You were supposed to just watch last time,” Keith answers from the shower. 

“Yeah, and you asked me to join. What’s your point?” Lance questions with a grin as he leans on the door frame.

Keith shakes his head and calls him ‘incorrigible’. He’s not even sure what that means but no point in denying it. It’s probably true. Lance watches from the entry as Keith lathers soap all over his purple body. Keith can’t tell what exactly Lance is looking at but he raises a suspicious brow as he scrubs.

“What?” Keith asks. 

“Hmm? Oh, nothing,” Lance answers, looking away and scratching his chin nonchalantly. “I know you don’t like the staring. Sorry.”

“The ears? Or the eyes?” Keith wonders, frowning.

“Neither...I was…” Lance flushes. “You don’t like the changes...I get that. You might never like them. But uh...I think you look great. Like this, I mean.”

“Yeah, okay,” Keith sighs. “Sure.”

“You don’t believe me?” Lance furrows his brows, slightly hurt.

“Lance, I can’t even look at myself for five seconds without feeling like I’m...disgusting. Revolted by a face that used to be mine, ” Keith shakes his head. “It’s fucking awful. Couldn’t be worse. ” 

“Stop, stop, stop,” Lance says as he enters, waving his hands. “Why are you saying these things? Disgusting? Come on Keith. I’d literally deck someone if they said that about you, and just cause you’re my boyfriend doesn’t mean  _ you  _ get a free pass.”

“It’s true,” Keith shrugs and rinses his body. “I’d be hard pressed to believe anyone that says they like me better this way…especially if they knew me before.”

Lance goes from hurt to stone-faced serious. He strides into the bathroom and into the shower under the spray while fully clothed.

“What are you--”

“Keith, I’m not just anyone and you know that,” Lance tells him, water drenching him for a second time on Keith’s account. Lance puts his hands on his shoulders and Keith averts his gaze. “Look at me, Keith. Look at me.”

Keith hates being told what to do almost as much as he hates subjecting people to his new eyes. But Lance isn’t letting this go until he knows Keith is listening, so he clenches his jaw and looks up. Lance looks directly into his eyes, determined and firm. 

“You don’t think you look better and that’s fine,” Lance assures him. “But...don’t act like things are worse than before because they’re not. You make it sound like I’m only here because I pity you. And I don’t want you resenting me for something that’s just not true.”

“What if I change again?” he tells Lance, his voice strangled with his fears. Keith averts his gaze again, shame-laden look in his eyes as his ears flatten to his head. What if he stops being Keith and becomes something else?

Lance presses his forehead to Keith’s with a tired sigh. So many things he wants to say to Keith. So many things that Keith just won’t listen to. Damn his stubbornness and pride. How to get through to him. Things are about to get mushy so he hopes he doesn’t start to cry.

“I promise, I’m always gonna want to look at you. I’m always gonna want to hold you, want to kiss you,” Lance whispers, pain in his voice. “It doesn’t matter if your body changes every week for the rest of your life. You could grow a third eye and turn pink tomorrow and I’m still going to be here. Because you’re Keith-- and being around you...makes me happy.”

God, it’s so hard for Lance not to just scream how much he loves him. 

“Lance,” Keith’s voice almost cracks. “But I’m--”

“You can hate your body if you want,” Lance tells him. “But please...don’t say you're disgusting. Or revolting…It…Christ, it hurts to hear you say that. Especially when I don’t feel the same.”

Is Lance crying? No fair. Keith's the one who wants to cry and--dammit there it is. He tries biting his lips inward to keep them from quivering. Leans into the spray so that water will mask the tears. Lance’s arms encircle his waist, pulling and squeezing tight. 

He didn’t think that his self-depreciative comments bothered Lance. It wasn’t that long ago that Lance was poking fun at his mullet. And he certainly would have jumped on board for new jokes at Keith’s expense before. Cat jokes. Galra jokes. But here he is trying to put his worries to rest so he’ll stop treating himself like garbage.

“I’m not trying to convince you to like yourself, you gotta do that yourself,” Lance says sadly, as if he knows all too well. “But if I have to tell you every day that you’re amazing, for like...forever...just so you’ll consider the possibility...then I’ll do that. Anytime you need to hear it. Just say the word.”

_ When I can’t believe in myself, I can always believe her. _

Forever huh? That sounds ridiculously close to a proposal but Keith’s finding he doesn’t mind. He just pathetically smiles, and buries his face in Lance’s neck. Amazing? When Lance says it, it feels like it could be true. Maybe.

“Moron,” Keith huffs but flushes nonetheless. “You’d really do that?”

“Hell yeah,” Lance nods. “I fucking...adore you, Keith. More than adore but I don’t want you to smack me for being dramatic.”

“Like this whole thing wasn’t dramatic enough?” Keith chuckles and wipes his eyes, feeling loads better. “Was walking into the shower in your clothes necessary?”

“No, but it was cool though, right? Super suave?” Lance leans back and gives him those waggling brows with charming smile. Keith shakes his head with a snort but nods afterward.

“Very,” Keith agrees, hint of sarcasm evident.

“Yes!” Lance pumps his fist victoriously.

“Now get out. Or take your damn clothes off and stay in here. Might as well clean off now that you’re wet,” Keith rolls his eyes. 

The rest of the time under the stream is spent getting lathered up and scrubbed with interspersed moments of making out against the wall and on the ground of the shower. Lance’s hands grasped firmly on the ass of his partner above him. Keith with hands cupping the back of Lance’s head to keep it from hitting hard surfaces as they happily kiss under the stream.

How does Lance do that to him? He can’t go ten minutes without making a poorly timed joke. Can’t look into the mirror without making eyes at himself. Gives off such an air of egotistical confidence that’s especially obvious when he picks fights and argues...but then he turns around and does this...makes heartfelt confessions and promises to raise Keith up.

What an enigma, Lance Mcclain.  
  
“You’re incredible,” Keith smirks.

“Y-Yeah?” Lance blushes. “Ha ha, you like me. Loser.” 

“Yeah,” Keith nods with a soft smile before turning serious again. “But I’m going to destroy you in Poker tomorrow regardless.”

Lance blinks and then snorts out a laugh. Keith can’t help but laugh too and for once he doesn’t care that his teeth are showing. If Lance isn’t bothered by them, then maybe he can grow to accept them. Eventually, he may even like them.

Only time will tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is lots of fun times and I want to thank Bekdebek for the ideas that came to life in this chapter.  
> Comment if you can, it's what keeps my fire burning.

Twister was a terrible terrible idea and Lance wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Only four can play on the mat at a time so for the moment it’s Lance, Hunk, Shiro, and Keith while Pidge hits the button on the randomizer and the Alteans watch to get the idea of how to play. He’s never been so pleasantly twisted into knots before.

He’s losing the game but with all the fun angles in which to eye Keith’s body, can he really lose?

“Left leg on yellow,” Pidge calls out. 

Lance eyes the mat for the face of the yellow lion and groans. To get it over there he’ll have to reach between Keith’s legs or shimmy under Shiro. If the mat was like the one back home this wouldn’t be nearly as difficult. Clearly, Pidge has never played and didn’t know when she made it that the colors are supposed to be in rows. Not randomized.

Knowing Keith wants him to behave himself he goes for the one near Shiro instead as he’s not sure he can resist the temptation to graze Keith’s crotch if he goes for the other. To try and clinch a victory, of course. He shimmies for the dot under their leader, averting his eyes from the other fun reason for Twister, that well-sculpted chest.

Has Keith ever seen him without a shirt? Bet he’s just as ripped as Allura. Why is everyone on their team smoking hot? It's...not fair, is it?

“You alright there Lance?” Coran calls out with a chuckle. 

“I’m great,” he responds. “I play this game all the time. No sweat.”

“You sure?” Keith raises a brow and smirking. “You look distracted.”

Thankfully Keith understands the predicament. Shiro’s body is a finely chiseled work of art. Keith had a weakness for it himself when he was younger. He can hardly blame Lance for flushing a little under it. He’s intimidatingly attractive for such a soft hearted puppy dog. 

“Right hand on Blue,” Pidge announces. 

Keith reaches for a blue dot and subtly gives Lance a pinch to elicit a squeak before quickly putting it on the aforementioned blue space with a smirk. 

“Keith!” Lance pouts. “That’s cheating!”

“What are you talking about?” Keith feigns ignorance and even manages to sound indignant. 

“You’re not supposed to--!”

“Right foot Red,” Pidge calls over them. “Stop bickering and play. I don’t care which one of you loses or how.  I want my turn again.”

She lost the first round because of her short arms and Shiro replaced her. She still has to wait for Coran and Allura to take their turns but the sooner one of them loses the better. 

Lance narrows his eyes and twists his right foot to share a red lion dot with Shiro. Now he’s really in a precarious position under their leader. Keith’s eyes go wide as Lance turns his head and smirks victoriously at him despite the flush on his face. 

“Keith you have to put your foot on a red space,” Pidge reminds him. 

“Right,” he blinks and scans over the mat. 

He finds one but it’s a difficult reach, his leg going over Hunk’s arm. 

“Sorry Hunk,” Keith huffs. 

“Okay, right hand again. On green!” Pidge grins. “Someone’s going down.”

There aren’t as many green spaces. Shiro looks around and hangs his head with a defeated sigh. He can’t reach the closest one without collapsing. Lance can just barely reach one but his body is shaking under the strain. 

“I think it’s time I submit,” Shiro chuckles.

“You gotta reach anyway, cause if you fall and it causes someone else to fall, they’re out too. Part of the game,” Hunk points out. Easy for him to say, he’s in a great spot. 

Shiro gives Lance an apologetic glance and takes a deep breath before reaching over. He’s awfully close making Lance swallow nervously. His body grazes Lance’s before heavily collapsing on top of him. Lance’s makes a last ditch effort to take as many as he can with him and manages to trip up Keith as well. Keith avoids the pile up by rolling off the mat.

“Oh! He’s down!” Coran announces. 

“Lance and Keith too,” Pidge smirks. “Thought you were good at this game Lance?”

“I am! You made the mat wrong!” Lance groans from under the massive body of Shiro. His head hurts from hitting the ground.

“And you called me a cheater,” Keith growls as he picks himself up and gives Lance’s foot a tame kick. “Sore loser.”

“Sorry, Lance,” Shiro chuckles. “Guess I didn’t think ahead. You alright?”

He’s fine but his ego is bruised, along with his side. Shiro weighs a ton. All muscle and machine. And if he doesn’t get off him in the next few seconds, he’ll have something else to be embarrassed about, the memory of Shiro’s hips crushing down on him almost bringing a flush to his face.

Keith helps the both of them up and off the mat. Shiro takes over for the randomizer since he caused the pileup, while Coran, Pidge, and Allura take to the board for the next round. They re-randomize the mat to switch up the colors before beginning. Less red ones this time. 

Lance and Keith sit on the other side of the mat out of earshot of Shiro and watch as the others play. Keith noticed that blushing earlier and can’t help but comment on it now. 

“Shiro got you excited,” says Keith with a smirk.

“What? Nooo…” Lance starts and then pouts. “Maybe a little...you mad?”

“No, why? Should I be?” Keith raises a brow. “No one’s stopping you from looking.”

That’s right. Lance forgot that Keith doesn’t do jealousy and he’s not worried in the least that Lance will be unfaithful. As flirty as Lance is, he lacks the follow through required for being a player. They both glance over at Shiro. Their leader looks up, smiles, and waves at them. Keith gives a solitary wave back while Lance averts his gaze. 

“Did you guys ever…?” Lance starts and Keith snorts, covering his mouth. “Guess that’s a no. Man, why not?” 

“You don’t know Shiro very well,” Keith shakes his head. “Look at him.”

Lance does so but this time with a scrutinizing gaze. Shiro’s taking his job as randomizer seriously but when his eyes come up he looks affectionately at Allura as she reaches for the new color with a smile on her face. She says something to Shiro and a tinge of pink rises on his cheeks as he hits the button again.

“Oh, he’s straight,” Lance frowns.

“You’re telling me,” Keith smirks. “I went through puberty with that body hanging around all the time.”

“That’s rough buddy,” Lance pats his shoulder and leans in to whisper. “Did you ever--”

“Jack off to that?” Keith finishes for him. “I was a hormonal teenager, what do you think?”

“Pidge fell again! You’re back up Lance!” Shiro calls over. 

“Pidge can take another turn,” Lance waves. “Does Shiro know? About your crush?”

He doesn’t think so. It never came up. And Keith moved on pretty quickly when he met actual gay guys his own age. Shiro became nothing more than his guardian. A familial bond growing in place of his infatuation. The black paladin became his brother and father and friend all rolled into one. He couldn’t get turned on by him anymore if he tried.

“I doubt it,” Keith shrugs.

“Think he knows I nearly popped a boner with his huge body on top of mine?” Lance asks. 

“I dunno, probably,” Keith raises a brow with a sly smirk.

“Not funny, Keith. I’d die of embarrassment,” Lance punches his arm.

"Nah, he's oblivious," Keith shoves him back. "Don't worry about it."

Pidge falls yet again so Lance takes his second turn. In that round Hunk and Coran take a header, giving Lance and Allura the victory. But that means Shiro’s back in and so is Keith,  which makes things a little awkward in the last round. 

Keith does his best to stay away from Allura, keeping to dots that aren’t near her. But it gets more difficult the longer the rounds go on. Eventually he has to go for a green lion dot and the closest one he can reach is on the other side of her. Weighing his options he opts for under rather than over, at least that way if he collapses it won’t be on top of her. His body has to get ridiculously close to the ground but he manages to put his palm on the dot, his shoulder just under her stomach.

Allura has to notice but she says nothing, keeping her focus on staying balanced. 

“Right hand red,” Hunk announces.

That’s easy enough for Keith. He lets out a sigh of relief but then notices Allura’s got nowhere to put her right hand that won’t throw off her balance considerably. She’ll fall no matter what but she tries for it anyway, her reach extending. 

“Ah ah! No shapeshifting!” Pidge chastises her.

“Hmph,” Allura pouts. 

If she’s going to fall, then she’s going to fall right on top of Keith. She grumbles and reaches for the red dot, accepting her fate. Her palm makes it to it’s mark and on cue she wobbles. Keith moves slightly and uses his shoulder to stabilize her. It’s not the point of the game but if she falls so does he. 

“I thought for sure--”

“Nice save, Keith,” Pidge blinks, impressed. 

Allura says nothing, her face blank.

“Just hit the button,” Keith huffs, his arm killing him. 

“Left leg yellow,” says Hunk with a grin. 

That collapses Keith and out of revenge for earlier, he takes Lance out too. The peanut gallery applauds as everyone laughs. They roll off the mat in their defeat. Shiro and Allura give each other a high five and promptly fall with a laugh as well. 

“What a fun game,” Coran laughs. “And the Voltron lion touches; great job number five!”

Lance mumbles something once again about how he could have won if the mat had been right. Keith rolls his eyes and gives his shoulder a pat to ease his damaged ego. Pidge jumps up with excitement and declares it’s time for sardines. She looks positively devious and excited beyond measure. 

She jabs fingers at them, telling them to count for five minutes before coming to look for her. Then she bolts out of the room leaving the rest of them to explain the rules to Allura and Coran.

“I know this castle like the back of my hand,” Coran says proudly. “My grandfather built--”

“I’m fairly familiar with it as well,” Allura looks excited. “I know all the best hiding places.”

“Sounds like a challenge,” Lance raises a brow. “Paladins versus Alteans? See who finds Pidge first?”

“That doesn’t sound fair,” Shiro objects. “They have fewer people…”

“Then they get a dobash head start,” Lance amends and sticks a hand out to Allura. “Winner...gets to choose what’s for dinner. Deal?”

Allura looks smug as she considers it and grasps his hand. She squeezes hard and smiles like she’s already won.

“Deal,” she smirks.

They leave first, splitting off in different directions before the door closes behind them. Lance looks closely at his watch, keeping track of the time. The second it reaches a full dobash he looks to their leader. Shiro rallies them and assigns them different areas before they all take off.

It takes them a while. Pidge is very small and can fit in so many places. The other’s catch sight of each other at different points, affirming that no one’s found her in the first five minutes. That’s when Keith smells it. The cleaner Pidge uses for her glasses and it’s wafting out from the Med bay. 

For a while, he pretends not to know. Feels like he’s cheating when his nose tells him where to go. He passes by the room a couple of times before finally entering and pinpointing her location to a storage box behind one of the pods. 

“Hey Pidge,” Keith taps the box before opening it. 

“How did you--do you have heat vision?” she squints. 

“No,” Keith denies. “There’s no room in there, do I just sit on the outside? Or put the lid back on and sit on that? I’ve never played Sardines before.”

“Sit outside and leave the lid off, it’s an inferno in here and I sweat enough as it is,” Pidge sighs and reclines back in the box. 

They sit silently and while they wait Keith pulls his book to read. Pidge is a great person to pass time with because while he reads quietly, she plays a game on one of her holo screens. Utter silence and it’s the reason no one else finds them for another ten minutes. 

Hunk arrives after that. And then five minutes later comes Coran. Allura and Lance find them not long after. And Shiro arrives last with a smile on his face. 

“Keith found me first,” Pidge sighs. “So I guess, he’s up next.”

“Oh, uh. Okay…” Keith shrugs. 

“Go hide,” Lance points. “I’m gonna go on the record. I’ll find him first, just watch.”

“Sure you will,” Hunk snickers and Pidge fist bumps him.

Keith’s always been good at finding places to hide out. Navigating the desert, he always needed to find little nooks and crannies to find shade or water. Sometimes he’d be out there for days before anyone came looking for him. That anyone usually ended up being Shiro.

He takes off for the kitchen, a place they wouldn’t normally associate with him. Most of them will go for the lion hangers or the training room but there aren’t many places to hide in there. The kitchen has a pantry though with lots of boxes to hide behind. It’s quiet and as a bonus, it usually smells pretty good, great for his nose. 

After taking a seat behind a tower of boxes he plops down, cross legged and leans back for a nap. With any luck, it’ll be ten minutes or so before anyone finds him. And he’s not wrong. He jolts awake when he hears the door open ten minutes later. Keith holds his breath until a head pokes around the corner.

“Shiro,” Keith smirks. 

“I checked your hanger first,” Shiro chuckles and takes a seat next to him. “Who do you think will find us next?”

“Pidge,” Keith yawns and cracks his neck. He heard her stomach growl during the last round.

Until then they just have to wait. Shiro reaches onto a shelf and grabs a fruit. He passes one to Keith and takes one for himself before biting into it. 

“Feeling better than yesterday?” Shiro asks. 

Keith nods and takes a bite out of his fruit. 

“That’s good. One day at a time,” Shiro smiles, tousling his hair and smirking. “Hair’s getting long.”

“I know you never liked that. Told me it was a mess. That I should cut it,” Keith smiles at the memory.

“You grew it out to spite the General,” Shiro chuckles. “He liked to gripe about it at award ceremonies. Said it looked rebellious and unprofessional. That their best pilot hopeful should look more respectable and as your guardian, I should do something about it.”

The two of them laugh a little. It’s hard to believe how long ago that was. Feels like years and years. Keith runs his fingers through his hair and notes that his bangs  _ are  _ getting a little long. Same for the rest of the team though. 

Hunk’s is getting a little long too. And Pidge has taken to pulling hers into a tiny little puff of a ponytail during training. Lance has been complaining that he needs to trim up his own hair. Keith sighs, he needs to trim his bangs if he wants to continue to see in their fights. Keith blinks in confusion and looks at Shiro’s hair.

“Your hair’s not longer? Everyone else’s is...” Keith furrows a brow. 

“Oh, uh...well,” Shiro blushes pink and touches his head. “Allura has clippers and she’s got really steady hands...she’s very good at it actually.”

It’s nice to see Shiro happy about something for once. He never looks that way when he talks about anyone else. Even if Allura’s not fond of Keith, she is fond of Shiro...so he’s happy for them. 

Just like Keith called it, Pidge wanders in scanning the shelves for a quick snack. She nearly jumps out of her skin when she sees them sitting there. A few minutes after she takes a seat Hunk waltzes in with Lance. Funnily the Altean’s find them last. 

After that Shiro goes and Lance finds him first. Then Coran finds Lance first. After that Allura finds Coran in two minutes flat making it her turn. She’s eager to baffle them all with her hiding skills and takes off from the bridge.

She does exceptionally well. No one seems to be able to find her, not even Coran and he’s known her all her life. And he knows where all the best places to hide are. Or so he claims. 

Keith isn’t really trying to find her first. The last thing he wants is to be alone with her any length of time. Doesn’t want to impose on her space unless she asks for him yet...they haven’t spoken since everyone found out. He’s loathe to do it but maybe he needs to be the first to broach the wall of silence. 

He follows his nose until the scent of her perfume becomes stronger and stronger. That’s when he makes it to the prison hold. What a great place for a princess to hide. On the same line of thinking as Keith, to go where they’d least be expected. With a sniff he detects her hiding behind a control console desk. 

It might be prudent to announce himself before turning the corner and scaring her.

“Allura, it’s Keith,” he clears his throat. 

He hears a catch in her breath. For a moment he thinks she’s going to pretend like she’s not there or that she didn’t hear him. But she sighs and answers.

“Guess you found me,” she sighs.

He comes around and sees her curled with her arms around her knees. She hasn’t looked up and Keith doesn’t expect her to. He simply takes a seat next to her with a good foot between them. 

This is just as awkward as anticipated. Neither of them wants to be the first to say anything. If they just let it stay like this, they’ll never talk again. The team can’t function if the members don’t speak. So Keith takes a deep breath and looks at the ground.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t have hidden it from everyone.”

Allura’s eyes soften and look at the floor. 

“I wish...I could go back to being my old self. So things would stop being weird around here...so you wouldn’t hate me,” Keith looks away.

“I don’t,” she reveals and pulls in tighter. “I started to. But it’s difficult.”

Keith looks up at her but she’s buried her face into her knees, surrounded by her arms to hide her face. 

“I feel like I’m supposed to. The Galra killed my people. My family. My father. I can’t forgive them for what they’ve done and yet…” Allura takes a deep breath to steady her voice. “I know  _ you  _ did not do those things.  _ You  _ did not choose to be Galra.  _ You  _ are a courageous person who fights on the side of justice. It conflicts with everything I’ve seen, with everything I’ve experienced. Which means...you were right. That lumping all the Galra together as the same is...wrong. That  **_I_ ** was wrong.”

The last sentence sounded particularly difficult for her to utter. 

“I’m so used to being angry with the Galra that it’s difficult to come to terms with you being one,” Allura admits. 

“You’re telling me,” Keith smirks and looks at his reflection in the floor. 

“Now when I see you that hate rises up again. I feel it pulsing at my core. You are a reminder of what I’ve lost and who is to blame,” Allura says as she looks up but not at him. “And it’s hard to let that anger go.”

“I get it,” Keith shrugs. 

“But Takashi--ah! I mean, Shiro,” she flushes and turns her face away. “He tells me that isn’t fair. And he’s right of course. You’ve done nothing to earn my distrust and done more than enough to prove your allegiance to this team.”

She does look at him now her eyes lingering on his teeth and flicking to his ears out of habit. He can see her mentally berate herself before finally bringing her eyes to his without flinching. 

“I am not accustomed to asking others for forgiveness,” she says, lowering her eyes. “But I--”

“Oh, huh. I found you guys,” Hunk hums as he comes around the corner. “Were things awkward? I bet they were awkward. Cause you know...Galra.”

“Thanks for pointing that out Hunk,” Keith closes his eyes, suddenly annoyed. “It didn’t even cross our minds.”

“Oh yeah? It’s the first thing that would have crossed mine,” Hunk smiles and drops next to Keith. “Anyone want some of these berries? They’re so good but give terrible heartburn, save me from myself.”

They’ll have to continue this conversation another time. Maybe later when things aren’t so tense. Keith takes a handful and offers some to Allura. She takes a few, popping one into her mouth every minute or two giving no indication that they even talked.

But they did and that’s better than dancing around this madness forever. 

Lance finds them next and with an exasperated sigh just lays his head in Keith’s lap when he arrives, exhausted from searching the castle. He notes that Keith looks relaxed. Not as anxious as he was before and his fingers go straight to massaging Lance’s head where he normally would have kept them to himself. Lance gives him a questioning glance but only receives a hair ruffle in response. 

Not long after that, Shiro finds them with Pidge following close on his heels. Shiro takes a seat next to Allura and she subtly puts a hand on top of his. An understanding look between them as they listen to the others talk. At a low whisper, of course, so as to keep their location secret. Coran finds them ten minutes later and they suspend the game for food.

Since Keith won the first round he dictates what’s for dinner. He doesn’t care, never does when it comes to mealtime, so he abdicates his right and gives it to Pidge. Afterall, sardines was her idea and if not for her, he never would have gotten to talk alone with the Princess. The green paladin votes on something quick and easy.

“Cause I wanna get started on Poker, you guys are going down,” Pidge wrings her hands greedily.

“What do we use for chips?” Lance asks as they walk to the kitchens. 

“There’s a container full of nuts and bolts in the shuttle bay that should work,” Shiro thumbs in its direction. “I’ll go ahead and get them.”

If Pidge wants fast and easy then it’s food goop all around. 

Lance frowns at the bowl of sludge, still not fond of its lack of seasoning. Keith’s not sure what it is but lately, he’s felt it tastes better, has a more nuanced flavor than he first remembers. It’s further confirmed when Hunk admits that he’s been adding spices to the mix. Lance says he can barely tell but Coran compliments his use of the Olkari Mirg-fruit seeds. Good for hair growth!

“So are you really good at Poker? Or were you just bluffing yesterday?” Lance asks Keith.

“I dunno,” Keith shrugs indifferently. “I don’t think I’m that great.”

“Are you actually bad though or is that a bluff?” Hunk eyes suspiciously. “Or was your bluff a bluff? Or are you telling the truth to lower our guard for a bluff later? Or--”

“Hunk! It doesn’t matter!” Pidge interrupts and adjusts her glasses. “Because you’re all going to lose to me! I’ve been practicing and running statistical scenarios since last night. There’s not a single eventuality I’m not prepared for.”

*****

For all the talk Pidge loses the first five rounds consistently.  She claims she’s gathering data on how each of the team operates when playing and will make a comeback in time. It feels like a lie but no one comments as much. Pidge just has rotten luck when it comes to gambling. 

The Alteans are given something of a guide sheet on what combinations are the most valuable, courtesy of Hunk. It takes a bit but Allura snags a victory, her eyes lighting up with understanding and a pleased smile. Eventually, she throws out the sheet, no longer needing it.

The victories divvy out pretty evenly, but Keith keeps a good hold on most of his ‘chips’. He knows a bad deal when he sees one and folds before he can lose too much. 

“How do you still have chips? I’m almost out!” Lance whines looking at Keith’s pile. 

“I don’t bet anything I can’t afford to lose,” Keith raises a brow. “You’re too impuls--”

He clamps his mouth shut as Shiro snorts with laughter. The rest of the team joins in as well. It wasn’t that long ago such a thing was said of him. And now he’s criticizing Lance for it. With a flush on his cheeks, he shoves Lance’s snickering face away from him.

“I fold,” Hunk shakes his head. 

“Me too,” Coran pouts.

“Wait, does that mean only Keith and Shiro are still in this round?” Pidge lights up excitedly, her odds suddenly improved. “I raise!”

It took nearly ten rounds but Pidge clutches victory in her tiny hands with a grin. They do another couple of rounds, half of which Pidge wins. Her pile almost rivals Allura’s and Keith’s now. The winnings go to her head as she hums happily over her pillars of nuts and rows of bolts. 

“I think I finally got this,” she adjusts her glasses haughtily. “Who wants to play for higher stakes?”

“We don’t have any money Pidge,” Keith sighs.

Hunk adds, “Hence, the nuts and bolts.”

That’s when Lance makes a suggestion and the whole room goes quiet. Strip Poker. They could literally hear a pin drop. Everyone looks to Shiro as if he’s the only one who can give them all permission. 

“Maybe not the best idea, Lance,” Shiro shakes his head, an uncomfortable smile on his face.

“Aww, what? Why not?” Lance looks to the others hoping to rally them. 

“It does sound interesting,” Allura grabs her chin contemplatively. “It certainly would raise the urgency to win…”

“I don’t really care,” Hunk comments. “I have the most clothes on of anyone. Affords me some mistakes.”

“If I lose my hoodie, I quit,” Pidge adds. “But that’s not going to happen. I’m gonna wreck you guys.”

Shiro can’t believe what he’s hearing, that more than half the people are on board for this, including the woman of his dreams. He can hardly refuse but if someone, anyone, is against it they can reasonably call it off. He looks to Keith, eyes begging him to put a stop to this horrible proposal.

“Shiro’s right, it’s a bad idea,” Keith starts. Shiro lets out a sigh of relief as the others groan. “There need to be limits set so no one loses everything or gets too uncomfortable. And the chance to opt out when you’re finished.”

There are cheers all around and Shiro looks up to the ceiling in defeat, as if praying for Voltron to come smite him now. He can’t believe this is happening and runs his fingers through his hair with a defeated look.

“Just don’t bet anything you can’t afford to lose, right Shiro?” Lance elbows Keith with a grin.

“I suppose I’m outnumbered,” Shiro tries to smile but it’s forced. “Let’s try to keep it PG-13.”

“Yeah, no joke. I don’t need to see any more of you guys than necessary,” Pidge snorts. 

They come to a new arrangement on the rules. If someone folds before the river card is turned they lose nothing. Otherwise, everyone will be out of clothes within four rounds. Two article raise limit per round. Once a person is down to undergarments and lose they’re out, no exceptions, but they can opt out sooner if they want to. Winner is the last person standing and the undisputed champion of strip poker.

“Sounds good to me,” Hunk nods and cracks his knuckles.

“Let’s do this!”

*****

It’s been ten rounds.

Lance is down to his pants and socks as he holds his cards close to his face. Shiro’s in the same boat but he at least still has his shoes. Keith’s only lost his shoes and his jacket.  Hunk’s still doing pretty well for someone who’s lost five rounds but won two to get his shirt and socks back. Coran bounced out no less than three games ago and Allura graciously returned to him his pants.

Princess Allura hasn’t lost so much as a sock and Keith’s got the sneaking suspicion she’s trying to bluff her way into making Shiro lose all his clothes. She certainly seems to be enjoying this game far more than the previous ones, her eyes flitting over to Shiro after each round.

“This is fun!” Allura giggles.

“That’s cause you’re winning!” Pidge huffs, her arms crossed and legs folded up into her hoodie.

“I dunno, Keith’s doing alright. He’s got my headband and Lance’s shoes,” Hunk muses. 

“I’m shivering over here! Come on Allura, trade you my socks for my shirt back,” Lance trembles and shakes. 

“Absolutely not,” Allura shakes her head. “You can have your clothes back when you lose, Lance.”

Keith looks at his shivering partner. Lance gives him the saddest, most cold abandoned puppy-eyed look and Keith sighs. He pulls off his shirt and extends it to Lance who grins happily. He doesn’t release it into his hold, however, not without something to trade. Lance grumbles as he hands over his socks to Keith.

“You suck,” Lance announces.

“You’d know,” Keith smirks and the others laugh, bringing a blush to Lance’s face. 

The next few rounds eliminate even more players. Pidge opts out when it comes to giving up her hoodie and gets her pants, socks, and shoes back from various players.  Lance loses, not only his pants but Keith’s shirt to Shiro. Luckily, Lance gets everything back with the exception of Keith’s shirt when he admits defeat. 

Before long it’s down to Keith, Shiro, and Allura. Keith wins his shirt back from Shiro quickly enough. Allura loses a round to Shiro and gives up her capelet to him. It must have lowered his guard because the next round she raises and decimates him with a full house. Shiro’s down to his boxers now and the flush on his cheeks couldn’t get pinker. 

“How embarrassing,” Shiro sighs. “I’m rustier than I thought.”

“Allura doesn’t seem to mind,” Keith suggests quietly. 

“I...I noticed,” Shiro swallows down his nerves. 

“It’s nothing she hasn’t already--oh…” Keith stops, realizing his error as Shiro turns red. If it took Shiro as long as it did just to confess then, of course, they haven’t. This the most naked he’s been around her.

Allura can barely contain the elation on her face at the pile of Shiro’s clothes in her possession. Within a round, Shiro loses and keeping with their rules, Allura returns his clothes. It’s easy to see her disappointment as he covers up his body again, still flushed with embarrassment. 

“Keith and Allura are the only ones left,” Hunk notes. 

“They’re both so good though,” Pidge hums. “This could go on for thirty more rounds.”

“All or nothing, round then?” Keith asks. He’s getting tired anyway.

Allura nods to accept the terms and they hand the deck to Pidge to shuffle and deal.

“Last round, Princess Allura, representing her home team of Altea on the left,” Lance mock announces. “She’s got quite the winning streak behind her for a new up and comer. Will she able to bring home the bacon?”

“What’s bacon?” asks Coran. 

“Oh Coran...poor poor Coran,” Pidge pats his shoulder sympathetically.

“In the other corner, Keith Kogane, a fellow representative of the lovely planet Earth,” he continues. “His years of Poker experience gives him quite the advantage but how is his luck? Can he defeat the Princess’s uncanny ability to win.”

“This is great,” Hunk watches as if it really were on TV and snacks away on his popcorn chips.

“A hush goes over the crowd as the round begins. No raises. And folding results in an automatic loss,” Lance lowers his voice to increase the tension. “It comes down to luck now…”

Keith eyes his cards with a smile. Nice. A pair of sevens. Not a bad hand at all. Allura looks quite pleased as well. 

Pidge deals out the flop, burning the first card and turning over three fresh ones. Keith almost smirks but contains himself. There’s another seven down there, plus a four and a Jack. Three of a kind. Even better. Pidge does a burn and turn to reveal the next round.

“Hmm,” Allura hums, barely containing her grin.

Another four. With a smile like that Keith can assume she has at least one four of her own. Even so, that just makes three of a kind in which his now full house wins. Sevens and fours. How lucky.

But they still have the river card. With any luck, it’ll be a seven, which would net him four of a kind. Even better than a full house. Not that he needs it to win anymore but it would be a nice way to end the last match. 

Pidge turns it and it’s a King. Ah, well. Doesn’t matter. 

“Full House,” Keith reveals his cards and the others ooo and aaah. “Sevens and fours.”

“Oh,” Allura looks down at her hand and chuckles. “You used the fours too?”

She shows her hand and everyone loses their minds. Two fours. Keith can’t fucking believe it. Allura has four of a kind which beat his full house. Everyone cheers and hollers. Sounds like an audience at a soccer match complete with whistling from Lance and Pidge.

“That’s amazing!” Hunk bellows. 

“She trounced us all night and then beat Keith,” Pidge gestures wildly at the table and then shakes Allura’s arm. “How are you so good?! I must know!”

“Oh, that’s easy. Luck won the round against Keith. But against you all I calculated odds, studied your faces to learn when you would bluff, all the while keeping track of the cards played,” she smiles.

“You...counted cards Allura?” Lance blinks, mouth ajar. “The whole night?”

“Yes, of course. How else are you supposed to win?” she asks.

Everyone bursts into laughter as the Alteans look on with confusion. 

“That’s impressive,” says Shiro.

“We should take her to Vegas after all this,” Lance suggests. “Have her play the blackjack tables. But you can’t let anyone know you’re counting  _ there _ . They’ll kick you out for cheating.”

“I was cheating?” Allura asks worriedly. “I didn’t know--”

“You weren’t,” Shiro assures her. “Counting cards in poker isn’t cheating. It’s strategy but harder to do since the deck gets reshuffled each round.”

“Shiro’s right. You played fair,” Keith agrees with a sigh and extends his hand with a small smile. “Good match, undisputed champion.”

Allura looks at it and then him before smiling softly. She shakes it and the others cheer again.  It’s been a tiring day and at the end of it all, they all feel closer. Who do they have to thank for such a great time? Lance for suggesting strip poker? Pidge for Sardines? Allura for suggesting Earth games to start with?

The princess shares a fond look with Shiro that speaks volumes. A look that implies the idea lay with their fearless leader who will never take credit for it. Keith reminds himself to thank Shiro later as this is the most at home he’s felt in years. Feels good.

“Tomorrow we go to the Blade of Marmora headquarters,” Allura announces. “I was so worried about it. Stressed to losing sleep. This...this helped. Thank you Paladins.”

“Aw, you’re welcome Allura,” Hunk grins as Pidge gathers up the cards. “We should do it again. Every week or so when we get time. To unwind. Ooo! We could even play charades!”

“Here Keith, you hold on to these,” Pidge suggests, handing the cards over to him.

“Sure,” he nods. Maybe he’ll play a little Solitaire later. It’s been a while. 

“You and Lance can play strip Gin,” she waggles her eyes. 

Keith huffs and rolls his eyes. They hardly need cards for an excuse to get naked but he pockets them anyway. Lance strolls over and congratulates him on second place. The prize for which is a restful night’s sleep in Lance’s arms. That’s good, cause the last thing he needs is to get worked up the night before a new mission. 

That night Lance spoons in close, nose buried in the hair at his neck and humming contentedly. The song that’s always playing over and over in his mind. Lance’s song of home and happiness. It’s becoming Keith’s song too as he quietly hums it with him, lulling them to sleep.

“Know what the best part of today was?” Lance asks drowsily, seconds from passing out. 

“What?” Keith yawns, close to drifting off himself.

“You smiling,” Lance sighs.

“Moron,” he huffs with a blush. 

He grabs Lance’s hand and pulls it in close to his chest for a quick kiss before settling in for the night. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day, a huge step in the search for allies and for answers. 

Keith only hopes he’s ready for it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
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> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I wrote this fic Pre-season 5 and discrepancies in certain NAMES are due to my creative license. Those names will NOT be changing so I will NOT be retconning any information in regards to those names.

What a place to put a secret base, between two black holes and right next to a blue sun. This day couldn’t get any more bizarre.

Lance looks over at Keith to garner any thoughts he might have on it, but he’s stone-faced and tapping his foot in his impatience. Earlier he was in a mood, jumping down people’s throats for making jokes when this is a serious matter.  A look from Shiro calmed him down just as a communication came through.

They identify themselves to the base. They respond with conditions for entry into their domain. Only two may enter and without weapons.

“They can’t be serious?” Lance exclaims and looks at the other for input. They look just as unsure as he is.

The only way to get over there is in a lion and it’s nothing but a giant weapon. Shiro decides it's best if he goes, along with Keith in the Red Lion. Keith has no objections as he wants in there more than anyone but Allura makes a face.

“Are you certain Shiro?” she asks, glancing at Keith. But it doesn’t look as though she doesn’t trust him. Her brows furrowed with worry as if just the two of them isn’t enough. That this is too risky.

“It’s our only option. We haven’t severed the link to Zarkon in the Black Lion yet, and the Red Lion is the only one that can handle that kind of heat,” he explains, but then catches on to her bigger concern. “If we don’t agree to their conditions they’ll never trust us. We need these allies.”

She can hardly disagree with that so it’s settled. Keith looks thoughtfully at the base on the big screen, his mind already somewhere inside. Lance takes a few steps over and perches an elbow on his shoulder.

“You excited?” Lance asks. “Man, I’m jealous. A mission with Shiro AND you’ll get to meet other Galra before anyone else.”

“This isn’t a party Lance,” he tells him. Lance can see he’s right though. Keith’s very excited, his ears pricked forward curiously.

Keith has other reasons for his excitement though.  It’s not enough that he knows he’s Galra.The Blades of Marmora will have information on his mother. She must have been one of them. Was he supposed to be one too? To follow in her footsteps? Was he always meant for this fight against Zarkon, no matter what?

“Don’t do anything stupid okay?” Lance interrupts his thoughts.

“I’m not going to start a fight with a secret society that wants to destroy Zarkon,” Keith huffs, almost offended.

“I meant like falling for some sexy Galra babe!” Lance exclaims.

He’s about to remind Lance that he’s super gay and pretty committed to what he has with Lance, so he’s not about to get the hots for some Galra chick but instead shakes his head with a chuckle. He’s in the mood to tease suddenly.

“I dunno,” Keith smirks. “According to you, there’s nothing hotter than purple skin...so maybe you’re onto something. Gotta be some guys over there hard up for a fresh Galra like me.”

“Wha? Keith!?” Lance looks aghast and punches him in the arm with a pout.

“Relax Lance,” Keith rubs his arm with a smirk. “I’ve got a thing for this loud mouth with lanky legs and a flawless skin care regimen.”

Lance breaks out into a smile, letting out a soft laugh as he brushes his hair out of his face, striking a pose.

“You know how to flatter a guy,” Lance grins but goes serious for a moment. “Be careful anyway?”

“I’ll be fine, Lance. Plus, Shiro’s in charge. He’ll keep everything under control,” Keith tells him, stretching his arms and cracking his neck.

“Get you a massage when you get back, _if_ you play nice with the Marmorites,” Lance promises. “I’m calling them Marmorites.”

Keith nods and gives Lance’s head a tussle before following Shiro out. He says he’ll meet Shiro at the hanger, that he has to check something before leaving. It won’t take long.

Hidden in the drawer, under some of his spare clothes, is the dagger. It’s nothing compared to the lion, so surely it won’t register as a threat. Regardless, he needs it to get his answers. Someone will have to recognize its owner. That someone can tell him about her. He slips it snugly into his belt with a sigh.

They have some allies to make and nothing’s going to get done if they don’t get a move on.

*****

Feels wrong already.

The minute they land Keith gets the feeling he shouldn’t be there. That being Galra isn’t going to be useful in earning their trust. It might even make them more suspicious, like they’re trying too hard. He leaves his helmet on and even tints the visor a little to hide further.

The Blades all wear masks making it hard to determine anything about their facial expressions. He can only rely on vocal tone and body language to figure out their thoughts. And the strongest vibe he’s getting from them is distrust, the air thick with it as they travel down the lift.

Once they arrive at the correct floor the two Blades escort them to the main hall. The scent of Galra is thicker here, so much so that it’s permeating his helmet. He can’t even pick out individual smells anymore. A dozen uniformed soldiers, armed with weapons of their own, line the walkway up to who Keith assumes is the leader. His costume is slightly different, a sash to announce his rank above the others.

“I am Kolivan, leader of the Blades of Marmora,” he announces, voice deep and resonate. That of an experienced and respected commander. Gives Keith goosebumps to hear.

“My name is Shiro and we’re Paladins of Voltron,” Shiro announces back, his voice just as austere.

“I know who you are,” he says, some displeasure in his tone. “You were told to come unarmed.”

Shiro tries to reassure him, claiming they’re no threat and the Red Lion won’t give them any trouble. He makes sure to eye Keith and he nods in agreement. They’ll be glad to have the Red Lion here to help, should the need arise.

“I imagine we would, however, I wasn’t referring to your beast,” he answers and just barely tilts his head.

If Keith had blinked he’d have missed the cue. Even with the warning, before he can brace himself a hulking Blade with a tail appears behind him and twists his arm. Keith lets out a sharp yell as the pain shoots up his shoulder and he’s pinned roughly to the ground. Before he can squirm free the brute pulls his little dagger from its hiding place. The others block Shiro from assisting him, so he’s left to strain against his iron grip on his own.

“He has one of our blades! Who did you steal this from?”

“I didn’t! I’ve had it all my life! My father gave it to me!” Keith shouts from the ground, his chin pressing into the floor and straining his neck in a direction it was never meant for. But he’s almost got his other arm unpinned, which is a step closer to freedom.

“Lies! No Blade would willingly give up their weapon,” the brute shouts. “Only a Galra, a fellow Blade, should have this!”

“Arrgh! I _am_ Galra!” he growls, finally getting his hand back and throwing off his helmet to glare at any Blade he can see.

If he’s intimidating anyone he can’t tell for the masks on their faces. But some lean and whisper. Luckily his hearing is none worse for his uncomfortable position.

“His face…”

“Is he a Blade? He looks like…”

“Like Ghaythra? But she’s...yes, that hair and those ears…”

“Is it possible he speaks true?”

Ghaythra? Is that...her name? His mother’s name. Keith’s ears twitch in earnest, straining to hear more but Kolivan hushes them simply by stepping forward. Silence blankets the room as they all straighten up to attention.

“Your name, youngling?” Kolivan inquires.

Keith pauses, remembering what the beetle at the mall had said. How the Galra pronounce his name. Would that even help here? It's worth a try.

“Kee-ith of Earth,” he huffs, still struggling to be freed. There are more whispers but they last only a second. Even Kolivan shifts ever so slightly to suggest interest. The big one holding Keith down growls and speaks up.

“His name matters not. He merely carries a stolen legacy. He is no Blade. We can’t trust him...could be a spy for Zarkon among the Paladins,” he suggests as he picks Keith off the floor with one hand and shoves him to his feet.

“You know I’m not! And you know who’s knife this was, don’t you? Tell me!” Keith demands, his voice straining to stay calm.

Kolivan denies him, citing their society is built on secrecy and trust. As of right now, they do not deserve that trust. Shiro’s disappointed more than anything and announces that they’ll leave if an alliance isn’t possible. The black paladin puts a hand on Keith’s shoulder, trying to direct him away from the others and to the exit.

No. No! Keith pulls out of his hold and turns back.

He’s not going to leave. Not this time. The answers are finally so close, they’re literally within his grasp if Kolivan will just tell him. Fuck if he’s going to go back to the castle, tail between his legs. Metaphorically, of course. He’s not going anywhere without his knife or his answers.

“Who was she? Why was she on Earth? Please, you must tell me!” Keith pleads.

“You are no Blade,” the brute reiterates. “You deserve nothing, welp.”

“But I... _have_ to know who she was...where I came from...where I belong…” Keith grits his teeth, despair on his lips.

He needs to know what his mother intended for him to do. Did she want him to stay on Earth and live out his days as an oblivious human, never knowing about the war? Or Was she hopeful that he’d join her? Become Blade at her side? Is she even alive? Or did she die, fighting against Zarkon and his hoard? Should he be avenging her?

Kolivan tilts his head down to look at Keith. “You seek knowledge...There is only one way to attain it here,” he suggests.

“I’ll do it!” he shouts desperately back. Anything to get his answers!

“The Trials of Marmora. Survive and you may keep the weapon and I will reveal its history to you as a fellow Blade.”

Shiro’s not pleased with how this is all turning out, at all, but Keith’s beyond feeling guilty about it. If this is the only way, he’ll do it to bring himself closer to the truth. Kolivan instructs the being known as Antok to return the knife. He’s not happy about it but he gives it back to Keith along with a thinly veiled threat that has Keith’s hair bristling. It takes considerable control not to bare his teeth but he manages and takes his dagger.

He’s ready for whatever they throw at him.

*****

Keith comes to a sudden conclusion--he is not as skilled as he thinks he is.

He wishes he could attribute his abysmal defeat in the first room to the suit they made him wear but he knows better. No, the speed and precision with which his combatant thoroughly thrashes him is just a pitiful reminder that he’s no soldier. He may as well be a child with a stick against a trained knight.

It’s humiliating and pathetic how quickly he gets punched not once but twice in the face and forced to the ground with the sharpest of weapons at his neck. God, it’s so easy for them he doesn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or shout in anger. Maybe a combination of all three.

“Surrender the blade and the pain will cease,” he repeats, tone condescending.

Keith feels his blood boil. He can’t quit. He’s already traveled across the universe to find answers, only to be stopped here? Hell no. A little pain isn’t going to stop him. Lance was right, his hardheadedness is going to get him killed one of these days.

“I won’t quit,” Keith growls while flashing his teeth, keenly aware of the edge at his neck.

“Then the pain continues,” the combatant says. He releases him, then gestures behind them. “You are not meant to go through that door,” he tells Keith, his stance non-aggressive.

Cautiously he steps by him, not sure what the fighter is playing at. He lost the fight yet...Does this mean he wants Keith to proceed to the next stage regardless? He bolts for the door into the adjoining room in case he changes his mind.

Keith doesn’t stop till he enters the next room, then looks around once inside.

It’s the same room? But now two opponents rise from an opening in the ground. They repeat the spiel the first did and take their stances. Keith readies himself, dagger firmly in hand and proceeds to fight two opponents when he couldn’t even handle one.

Just keep pressing forward, he tells himself. It’ll be worth the beatings, worth the pain. He just needs to push through it.

*****

“Lance is going to kill me,” he pants under his breath. That’s if he doesn't die here first…

Fuck is he tired. How many rooms has he been in now? Seven? Eight? He’s lost count of the number of times he’s taken hits to the face, to the stomach...God his ribs hurt. And his shoulder! It was cut in the very first room. It burns and bleeds and the sight of his own red blood invigorates him to keep moving.

“At least it’s still red,” he coughs, clearing his throat. Tastes like there’s some in his mouth too.

He can’t keep this up. Galra stamina or not he needs to rest. How many more rooms are there? Does it ever end? What if it goes on and on no matter how many rooms he goes through. Like pushing a boulder up a hill only to have it fall again.

Keith’s bullheaded tactics aren’t working here, he needs something else. There has to be a trick to it. Something he’s missing. How does he get past this shit?What would Lance suggest?

He’d tell Keith he’s working too hard.

 _Why you gotta fight every single dude they throw at you?_ _You’re just making it worse by getting in close. Tiring yourself out before moving on to the next room through that stupid fucking door. Christ Keith, I’d just stop trying and take a nap on the floor._

“The door,” Keith hums. Then blinks in realization. “The...floor.”

It can’t be...it can’t be that simple. Can it?

It is and he can’t believe it took thinking like Lance to figure it out. He literally isn’t supposed to go through that door and they’ve been telling him this the whole time. He was just too stubborn to listen. Occam’s razor. The easiest explanation is usually the correct one.

Sliding down the lift shaft is easier than he thinks, with plenty of room to spare. He doesn’t fall far, landing on the descending lift that the fighters took up. When it reaches the bottom and opens to a new area he peeks his head out. It’s devoid of combatants. Empty. That elicits a ragged sigh of relief.

“Thank God,” he shakes his head and limps out of the lift with a groan.

Everything hurts. Everything aches and throbs. It’s worse than the time he had the gladiator thrash him. Makes it feel like a schoolyard scuffle. He’s going to sleep for a week when he gets back. Maybe two.

What blessed relief to find the halls vacant so no one can hear his whimpering groans as he nurses his arm. No one to see him take a breather, maybe on the nice cool floor. His intention is to just kneel for a second but the moment he starts to lower himself his knees buckle and he drops to the ground with a thud.

It’s okay. No, this is fine. A few minutes and he’ll be back on his feet for the next test. He’s just going to close his eyes for a second and relax. He’s more than earned it.

*****

Footsteps. How long has he been out? Minutes? Hours? The gait of the steps is familiar. His vision is blurry but he sees paladin armor with blue accents. Why can’t he smell him though? He can’t smell much of anything. Must have broken his nose. His face _does_ hurt pretty badly.

The figure kneeling down certainly looks like Lance.

“Hey buddy, you did it,” Lance smiles down on him, beaming proudly.

“Lance,” Keith sighs with a pained smile. He reaches up and with a groan, Lance pulls him to his feet. It really is nice to see a friendly face. “How did you get--”

“Pidge and Hunk plus a bunch of science stuff I don’t and won’t ever want to understand. I mean, do you really want to go into the science of it all?” Lance laughs and pats his shoulder. “I saw the vids. Can’t believe how long you lasted...unreal and _brutal_. You ready to head back home?”

“What are you talking about?” Keith blinks, confused.

“Let’s head back to the ship. You don’t need to take any more of this abuse. Just give them the knife and when we get back I’ll give you a massage like you won’t believe,” Lance slings an arm over his neck to lead him out but Keith stops and backs up.

This feels like it’s wrong. He’s not sure why but a deep feeling in his gut just makes him feel wary. Right, there’s still more to the trials. He’s got to find Kolivan and find out what the next step is. After he passes he can finally find out about his mother.

“I can’t give it to them, Lance,” Keith shakes his head. “I’m not done. It’s too important--”

“Too important?” Lance raises a brow. “It’s just a knife and not even a great one. Can hardly fight anyone with that thing. Why do you even care about it?”

Keith clutches it tight in his hand.

“It’s all I have of hers. Her legacy,” Keith explains. “I have to know who she was. What she wanted for me. It’s the only way to find out who I’m meant to be.”

Lance rolls his eyes and chuckles.

“That’s easy, you’re a paladin of Voltron. And we’re all you need, isn’t that enough?” Lance questions and gets close. He takes Keith’s hand in his and squeezes. “Aren’t _we_ enough?”

“Lance I...of course you’re...important to me,” Keith squeezes back but then releases, stern and serious. “But I have to do this.”

“No, you don’t,” Lance argues, shaking his head as tears form in the corners of his eyes. “Give up the knife and come home with me, Keith.”

“I can’t!” Keith turns away. He can’t let his resolve weaken in the wake of Lance’s pleas.

“You can, it’s easy! Just drop the knife, right there,” Lance cries and points to the ground, his voice cracking. “I don’t understand...why are you being so selfish?”

Lance just want to protect him. Wants him to stay safe. Wants him to stop throwing himself into fights where he comes out more broken than when he went in. But Lance knows him. Doesn’t he understand that Keith needs this?

“This is my choice,” Keith says firmly and the look of utter despair on Lance’s face nearly destroys him.

Lance clutches at his chest, as if he’d been shot. Confused torment in his eyes as he processes what he’s hearing. His lip trembles as he tries to breathe through the anguish.

“I...I thought…you _chose_ me?” Lance whispers, looking dejectedly down at the ground. He wipes his face on his sleeve before glaring at Keith, tears still flowing and hurt in his eyes. “My bad I g-guess. I’ll just go. You don’t need me. Going at it alone is more your speed anyway, right?”

God, it cuts deep, rattling Keith to his very core. Each shaky word more painful than the last, hitting him in all the right places to make him regret everything he’s ever said. He doesn’t want things to end with Lance. He never thought these trials would put a wedge between them. Maybe this really is all a big mistake.

Lance turns from him and starts walking away, without so much as a backward glance. It instills a sudden gut-wrenching panic in Keith, so much so that he almost loses his breath.

No, not like this!

“Lance! Wait!” Keith begs as he stretches out a hand to stop him.

But he can’t reach. Lance is too far for some reason. And the further he chases after Lance the further out of reach he feels as he fades away into a shining light. He has to cover his eyes as it blinds him and when it goes away he’s nowhere close to where he was before.

Keith looks around confused.

It looks familiar and nothing like the halls he was in a moment ago. It’s his shack back on Earth which brings him to one conclusion. This place isn’t real. Some kind of illusion. Lance was just a hologram or something. He was part of the trial...does that mean this is too?

A figure stands with his back to Keith, his hand outstretched and turning a dial on the radio.

“Dad?” Keith whispers when he recognizes him.

He looks so real. The last time he saw his father he was restricted to a bed. Thin and refusing to eat. Getting all his meals intravenously by the end. That was almost nine years ago. He hasn’t changed at all except he’s standing, and healthy, and smiling. Alive.

“You’re home son,” he smiles at him.

The way he says it, the realness of his voice, sets an ache in Keith’s heart. God, he wants it to be true. Wants it with every fiber of his being. Keith almost rushes across the room to hug him, just to relive the feeling of his father’s arms around him again, even if it is fake.

A distant rumbling shakes the room and startles him. Sounds like artillery. He needs to check what’s going on outside. His father assures him its nothing. That they’re safe inside so don’t worry. After all, doesn’t he want to catch up with his old man?

“Of course, I do,” Keith says contritely, feeling small in his father’s presence.

But the explosions and rumbling are impossible to ignore despite his father’s insistence that everything is fine. When he pulls the curtain away he gapes in shock at the battlefield in front of him. Zarkon’s fleet destroying everything in its path. God, are those people screaming? Those panicked cries and wailing moans of pain echo in his sensitive ears.

Is that...in the distance...is that the team? They’re escorting civilians to safety from burning buildings and shooting down robot sentries. Where are the lions? Where’s Voltron?

Hunk shoots down sentries with Lance as Pidge fights back to back with Shiro. Keith blanches at their appearance. They’re covered in scorch marks, dirt, and blood. Hunk’s got a burn on his face and Pidge is hobbling around on a bloody, broken foot. They all look exhausted as they slowly make their way through, evacuating anyone they can find.

Lance keeps looking around and calling out. His eyes keep scanning the landscape, looking for someone and Keith swallows a lump in his throat. He can’t hear him but he can read those lips.

_Keith! Where are you? Answer me!_

Keith stops breathing when Lance takes a shot to the leg and collapses to the ground clutching his injury. He tries his best to staunch the bleeding with as much pressure as he can manage. Even so, his eyes scan around, hopeful eyes searching. Lance fires from the ground using one hand as his other drips with the blood gushing from his open wound.

Even bleeding out, Lance tries to save people.

Shiro finds him and without a moment’s hesitation heats up his cyber arm to burning hot and presses it into Lance’s leg to cauterize it. Keith swears he can hear the wailing scream that comes out of him and it visibly shakes him to see Lance convulsing in agony.

He should be out there. Helping them.

“Dad, I-I’m sorry. I gotta go. They need me,” Keith turns from the window, unable to look as Lance passes out from the pain.

“Don’t you want to know where you come from? What you’re meant for?” his father asks and unwraps the dagger. “Your mother gave me this to give to you when you were old enough.”

“Mom? For me?” Keith blinks and lowers his eyes.

This is a test, he realizes suddenly. To see what’s more important to him, the truth or his friends. The past or the present. To see what or who he’s willing to sacrifice for his answers. The Lance from before showed he had reservations because he reached out to him, calling for him to come back. This time they're testing him further. Giving him a second chance to make a different decision.

Those aren’t really his friends calling for help. There are no civilians dying in the street. It’s all fake. An illusion until he makes a decisive choice between them. But if he abandons them, fake or not, does he even deserve the answers? Maybe if he hurries, he can have both?

“You have to tell me, Dad! Hurry! Why didn’t you tell me about the Galra? Why did you hide me? Did Mom want me to be a Blade? Like her?” he asks quickly hoping his father will answer.

“Your mother will be here soon. She’ll tell you everything,” his father promises as the shack shakes again.

He has to wait? But if he waits--

A scream tears through the house and Keith rushes to the window. Shiro’s down, a hole the size of a fist in his gut. Lance is panicking, awake now and holding Shiro’s wound while trying to lift him from the ground. It isn’t safe there but he can’t put any weight on his leg. He hardly has the strength to lift just himself. Hunk can’t help him, his arms full with a bloodied and limp Pidge. Lance’s face streams with tears as he begs for help, begs for someone to tell him what to do.

_We need help!_

_I can’t do this alone!_

_Keith, what do I do?!_

“I can’t wait around anymore! I have to go!” Keith bolts for the door.

Test or not, he can’t let this happen. He promised Shiro he’d never abandon the team again. Promised himself he’d always be there for Lance. Even if he can’t save them, even if he dies trying, he has to be with them. It’s--

It’s where he belongs.

“If you go out that door, you’ll never know the truth about who you could have been,” his father tells him sadly. It stills his hand on the doorknob. The words hang heavy in the air. If he leaves...

He’ll **_never_ ** know.

He’ll lose all the answers if he goes.

But he loses far more if he stays, he knows now. He loses what makes him human. It’s not something on the outside like he thought. Something deeper. No one would be able to see it but he’d know it was gone. Keith really would fully become the monster he always feared he’d be, inside and out. It’s not worth it.

“Goodbye, Dad,” Keith achingly whispers as he pushes open the door to join the firefight outside.

He runs as fast as he can. No weapon but his fists to fight his way through the horde of robot sentries. At this point, he could be breaking fingers on their metal faces and not know it. More than once he narrowly misses getting shot, jumping over barricades and through houses to avoid crowded streets.

Gotta be close by now.

His leg clips the sharp twisted metal of what was once a vehicle, firing pain up his thigh. No time for stopping. A gun! He scoops it up and fires his way through a line of sentries, barely avoiding their return fire. A laser fires right by him and singes his ear. With a growl, he picks off the asshole who managed to hit him.

He’ll have to thank Lance later for all the target practice.

When he reaches the team Shiro’s barely breathing. Lance has been trying to drag him but only made it yard or two from where he first fell. Hunk has his back to one of the walls of a nearby building, panting and tired and trying to shake Pidge awake but she’s not stirring.

Lance smiles wide when Keith slides in to help lift Shiro. He’s weak and exhausted but the relief in his eyes...he can’t express how glad he is to see him alive and breathing. The feeling is mutual all around.

“Let’s get out of here,” Keith tells them. “Follow me!”

The explosions get closer, the shock waves almost throwing them from their feet. Cars exploding, buildings collapsing from fire damage, the ground slick with innocent blood...there’s no safe place for anyone. Except the Red Lion, Keith thinks looking up on the cliff face. It’s up there...he just has to call to it.

“Please...help us! Help me!” Keith shouts. “Red!”

With a mighty roar, the Red Lion comes to life. Help is coming! They just have to wait for it to get there. It’s all going to be fine.

“We’re going to make it,” Keith promises as they shuffle away. “We’re--Look out!”

Keith turns them so quickly that Lance falls and Shiro lands on top of him. But Keith blocks the shots from hitting them both. He screams as a red-hot energy burns into his shoulder, his leg, and side. Keith collapses to his knees in front of them with a ragged groan and turns to look around. No new injuries. They’re safe. What a relief.

Just another minute...just a few more seconds and the Red Lion will be there...He just has to stay...here…

But he's feeling faint, and that burning just won't stop. He falls to the ground, unable to stay upright for even a second longer. Lance floats above him, shaking his shoulder, calling his name but it’s dulled. He can’t hear and his vision starts going black around the edges. He’s...he’s dying, isn’t he?

Red’s coming...he hopes it’s not too late for the others...

*****

Keith blinks his eyes open with a groan. What’s...going on?

It’s so cold. He’s still on the floor. And there’s Shiro above him looking down with worried eyes. No heat from the fires. No smoke choking his lungs. Everything’s fine. Except the building shakes as Shiro shoulders him and brings him to his feet.

“Stop what you’re doing! Call off your beast!” shouts Kolivan.

Red? Red’s doing this? But why? He remembers his aching body and the dream. She thinks he’s in danger here. Thinks he’s dying. Who’s to say he isn’t? He’s likely still bleeding from his shoulder.

Shiro demands they let them pass, that they _are_ leaving. He puts his body ahead of Keith’s protectively, not about to let them do any more damage to him in his weakened capacity. Kolivan says he cannot leave, not with the blade. It does not belong to him. It is still Ghaythra’s as he failed to awaken it.

While he’s contemplating what he means by ‘awaken it’, Antok suddenly draws his weapon. He’s fully prepared to cut them down if they do not comply.

Keith can’t do another fight, not in his current state. Shiro looks ready to tear them apart, letting Keith go and jumping into the fight to defend them. He looks on as they rush toward each other in slow motion.

This isn’t going to work. All the Blades are skilled fighters. Shiro’s tough but he can’t take on this many even if he manages to defeat Antok. It’s not worth Shiro’s life for this. It’s not worth anyone’s. When Shiro’s hand and Antok's blade clash Keith shouts to get their attention, to make it all stop.

“Wait! Just take the knife,” he offers, practically thrusting it in their direction. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I know who I am.”

Why did it take him so long to realize it? He’s a paladin. Galra and Human. A fighter. A pilot. He’s Keith and nothing he could have learned from the Blades was ever going to change that. No knife is going to change who he is or where he belongs. He decides that for himself.

“We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon,” Keith declares. “If that means I give up this knife, fine. It’s a small price to pay, take it.”

That’s when the knife begins to feel warm all of sudden. The emblem on it shimmers and gives off a flash of light, blinding him.

“By gods--”

“He’s awoken Ghaythra’s blade!”

“It’s his...the blade is his…”

“He truly _is_ one of _us…_ ”

Kolivan and the others look nearly as shocked as Keith feels. Or he assumes they’re shocked. He can’t see their faces but their stances come off as stunned as they shrink away from the light. They can’t deny that he’s Galra but they honestly didn’t think it possible for him to awaken another’s blade. But here he is, holding a sword instead of a dagger.

The attack on the base has long since stopped and it’s Kolivan that breaks the silence first.

“It seems we have much to discuss with the Paladins of Voltron,” he says.

“Then you will join us?” Shiro blinks, shocked but pleased to hear it.

“Yes. We have rushed to our judgment of your intentions. Please accept our apologies. Trust is hard to earn in these times but you have proven your worth,” Kolivan steps forward. “The Blades are at your disposal, we have an accord.”

Keith can hardly believe it. He watches as Shiro shakes hands with Kolivan and confers on how to proceed. After a sigh of relief, he leans against the wall to catch his breath and stare in wonder at his mother’s sword. His sword now, he supposes. How does he get it to shrink back down--oh, there it goes.

“Kee-ith of Earth,” Kolivan says from on high. “You have passed the trial and as such have secured a position as a member of our order, as a fellow Blade. Know that you are welcome here anytime you desire, it is your home if you so wish it.”

“I prefer Keith,” he amends sheepishly. “And my home is with Voltron.”

“Acknowledged,” Kolivan nods. “When we have a moment enough to speak, I will answer any questions you may have. For now, however, we are pressed for time.”

Keith understands. He’s waited this long for his answers, what’s a few days to him.

He takes the time to change back into his Paladin armor before returning. It’s astounding that his shoulder wound is still open and bleeding fresh when he removes the trial garb. Normally it would have closed up by now but it continues to drip no matter the pressure he puts on it. At least it’s a weak ebb of red suggesting that it _is_ healing, just very slowly.

His armor contains the bleeding, for now, the undersuit hugging tight to his body. He’ll have to get it treated when they return.

Kolivan calls to his second, Antok, and together with Shiro and Keith, they make their way to return to the castle in the cockpit of the Red Lion. He’s ready to go home, to see Lance. He pops his shoulder with a crack and hisses out a groan when he feels the cut open anew.

But first things first, he needs bandages...and he’s going to hold Lance to that massage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	21. Chapter 21

 

Lance taps his foot fervently while waiting with the others in the Red Lion hanger. Shiro said they were on their way back with some people to meet. With the excitement from Keith’s lion attacking the base still running through him, he has to wonder if something bad happened.

Can’t be too bad. Shiro didn’t say they were hurt. He beats away the worry to replace it with annoyance. Maybe Keith started some trouble. Lance hopes not and takes a deep breath in from his nose before releasing it.

“Look at him, just like Keith,” Hunk whispers to Pidge then elbows her when she doesn’t listen. “Look at him! Arms crossed...sour face...tapping impatiently…looks ready to hit something.”

“Shh Hunk,” Pidge warns. “Or it’ll be you he turns around and decks.”

The Lion enters and lands heavy in front of them, shaking the ground. She bows her head low to touch the floor and opens her mouth to allow the group to exit. First is Shiro with two strangers in tow. Dressed similar to Ulaz and they look important but Lance eyes behind them for Keith who comes straggling behind them with a slight limp.

Hurt again?

“Keith,” he sighs, shaking his head, slightly disappointed.

Why is he so slow? The others are already to the ground but he’s still making his way down the ramp, wincing. He spots Lance and looks relieved beyond measure before promptly losing his footing and sliding the rest of the way down on his ass.

“Keith!” they all shout.

His eyes are wide, just as surprised as the others when he reaches the bottom. Shiro helps him up and Keith shakes his head.

“Sorry, slipped,” Keith blinks. “I’m fine.”

“What happened?” Lance asks, a tinge of anger in his voice as he eyes the new Galra. “What did they do?”

“I’m alright, Lance,” Keith assures him. “It’s not their fault.”

“We’ll go over the details later,” Shiro interrupts Lance as he’s about to argue more. “Can you take him to the med bay? Coran, you can treat his injuries. Allur--uh, I mean. Princess Allura.  Kolivan and I need to discuss battle plans with you.”

Lance nods, not willing to fight him on it but still fuming. He shoulders Keith and they walk slowly to the med bay, following behind Coran.

He looks awful, just ragged and tired. Someone did a number on his face, it's swollen from temple to jaw. Lance notices Keith’s holding in his pain. He’s clenching his teeth and every other step his eyes twitches but he says nothing.

“You okay?” Lance asks in an attempt to get him to talk but he just nods.

When they get to the bay they sit him down and remove his armor piece by piece. Each article removed stokes the fire in Lance. Dark bruises dot the whole of his body. And he’s been bleeding from his shoulder and into his jumpsuit. It’s soaked through, the dark fabric kept it from being seen right away but now Lance’s fingers are slick with blood trying to keep pressure on it. No wonder he slipped...the blood loss is extensive.

Lance could spit nails. This was supposed to be a diplomatic mission. Why would their supposed allies knowingly hurt a paladin of Voltron? Why would they hurt Keith? Or was this Keith’s fault? Did he instigate yet another fight? Whichever it was, Keith looks less than proud of himself.

“Looks pretty nasty. Want to give the healing pods a go?” Coran asks and Keith shakes his head.

“Just patch it for now,” Keith tells him, avoiding Lance’s disbelieving eyes. “I don’t want to miss out on the battle plans.”

Coran shrugs and heads for the supplies stored in the wall. Lance gives Keith a disbelieving head shake before following the Altean.

“Coran, you got anything that makes a person sleep?” Lance asks after stepping out of earshot Keith.

“Sure do,” Coran rummages through a wall unit.

“Give some to Keith. We’ll throw him in a healing pod,” Lance sighs. “We don’t have time for bandages. He’s bleeding all over the floor--I don't know how much more he has left in him.”

They wait too long...he'll fall apart before he takes three steps out of the room.

“He may not need it,” Coran suggests and points.

Keith’s already laying down on the bench, too tired to sit up and eyes squeezed shut. Made it far enough to give the illusion of strength just to pass out the moment he sat down. Positively spent. Lance hates to say it, but he’s relieved. Makes the next part easier for everyone involved.

Together they maneuver him to a pod and sit him up inside. Coran hits a dozen buttons and starts it up. In about two vargas he should be fine but all the cuts will scar badly. Luxite blades are unforgiving when it comes to healing. Coran leaves and Lance shoots him a ‘thanks’ before the door closes.

Lance scrubs the bloody floor outside the pod and berates Keith in his mind for the first varga.

_What were you thinking? Bleeding all over the place...and wanting to keep going? You're going to get yourself killed if you keep this shit up._

He's caught between being furious with him and grateful that he's not dead. When he finishes the floor he stands and eyes the unconscious Keith. Lance braces an arm on the glass, his fist tight as he berates him more until he’s out of angry things to say.

“You're an idiot,” Lance finishes up with a sigh. “ _My_ idiot.”

The focus of his ire shifts to those who hurt him. Maybe Keith started the fight but there’s no reason it should have gone this far. Why didn’t Shiro stop them? Which Blade did this to him? Surely not just one. Keith would have trounced a fighter in single combat. Was he ganged up on? Who sicks a bunch of soldiers on one teenager?

When the door to the med bay opens he turns, expecting it to be Shiro coming to check on his right-hand man. Lance has been rehearsing his own speech for their leader about this. Instead, it's Kolivan who walks through the entry.

Right, the leader has the kind of authority to call an all-out assault on a kid.

Lance gives him a glare that rivals one of Keith's before looking back to the pod. It's the coldest he's felt about a person and Lance likes people in general. Kolivan walks up and stops a yard from him, likely sensing some animosity.

Kolivan is lucky they’re allies, otherwise, Lance would have a go at him himself.

“Not fond of Galra, are you?” he asks.

“I'm fond of this one,” Lance points at the pod, “the one right here, the one you thought would be laughs to knock around.” Lance crosses his arms defensively and huffs loudly.

“There is nothing humorous about what your friend attempted,” Kolivan states, not even offended by Lance's tone. “He is very brave, although stubborn. If his life was in danger it is because he places little value on his safety.”

Lance's glare softens a little. That does sound like Keith.

“Through his trial I found your friend has different priorities than protecting himself from harm. When given the option of the truth at the cost of his happiness, he chose admirably,” Kolivan explains. “He threw aside the answers to his lifelong questions a second time. Choosing instead to die protecting his friends with no guarantee that his sacrifice could save them. He didn’t want the answers if it meant standing idly by as those he cherishes perish.”

“What?” Lance asks as he uncrosses his arms, turning to face Kolivan. “He did _what_?”

Kolivan steps closer and elaborates.

“A simulation; that proved his worth far more than his fighting skills ever could.  If he had chosen himself over the whole he would have failed the trial,” Kolivan straightens up, squaring his shoulders. “As it stands, he passed. He awakened his mother’s blade, the youngest Galra I have ever seen succeed in doing so.”

Lance had no idea. A trial? He thought these guys just hauled off and beat Keith for nothing more than a smart ass comment. A test of Keith's worth? To earn answers to his origins? Of course Keith took it. His mother’s blade? Does he mean that dagger Keith carries everywhere? Wait, she was a Blade too?! It’s almost too much for the blue paladin to process at once.

“I came to see how he was. To see if he was ready for his answers while I could spare some time,” the Galra reveals.

“Wait, you're still going to tell him? I thought he gave them up-”

“He passed after all,” Kolivan reiterates. “But I see he’s still resting.”

Kolivan doesn’t leave quite yet. He takes a step towards the pod and stands there longer looking over Keith with a sort of recognition in his eyes. Lance could easily call it fondness if not for the furrow to Kolivan’s brow.

“He looks just like her,” Kolivan says softly.

He doesn’t sound like the sourpuss leader of a rebel group then. He sounds tired and forlorn. Kolivan looks wistful as his eyes fall upon Keith’s face. Like seeing someone again after years apart. There’s a story there, one Lance won’t be privy to he’s sure.

“Keith’s like his mom?” Lance asks and looks back at Keith, trying to imagine him as a woman and not having much success.

“Only superficially,” Kolivan admits. “Unsettlingly so. I nearly thought…” he shakes his head and clears his throat to pull out his leader voice again. “I have to organize my troops. Bring aboard my most trusted soldiers to confer with your leader on our plans. I’ll see you around the castle, Paladin.”

Kolivan clasps his hands behind him, gives a respectful bow, and then stiffly leaves the med bay.

Talking with Kolivan has made him feel better about Keith’s injuries. But it still pains him to see Keith hurt. And now he has to wonder what all happened during the trial. Keith’ll tell him, surely. He resolves to stay there until the time is up, just so Keith doesn’t wake up alone.

So he grabs a piece of Keith’s armor and starts scrubbing out the blood caked inside to pass the time.

*****

Keith blinks as his eyes try to focus. Wasn’t he waiting for Coran to dress his wounds? Where is--ugh. With a grimace, he realizes he’s in one of the healing pods. Ever since Lance did a stint in one of these things he hasn’t trusted them since. Advantages be damned, he’d rather heal outside of a tube.

Can he get out on his own? It doesn’t look like--oh. Looking down he sees Lance sitting against the pod reading a report on a holo-screen and twirling a stylus pen in his fingers.

Tap tap!

Lance tilts his head up at the noise and scrambles to his feet. He looks more pleased to see him than he did earlier. Lance taps the panel until he gets it open and helps Keith step out.

“I hate those things,” Keith huffs.

“Yeah, but you’re not bleeding anymore,” Lance points with a smile.

“How long have I been out?” Keith cracks his neck. It’s still a little stiff.

“Little over two vargas,” Lance checks his watch. “There are Marmorites all over the ship. Under constant supervision at Allura’s orders.”

“Figures,” Keith sighs.

“Yeah, she doesn’t trust them and not just because they’re Galra. Heard her pitch a fit to Kolivan about nearly killing an irreplaceable member of her team.”

“She said that? Irreplaceable?” Keith blinks. Lance nods.

“They’re not allowed anywhere on the ship without escort until they earn their place,” Lance adds.

Lance isn’t acting like he’s mad at him. Or anyone anymore. Earlier he was sure Lance was going to throttle someone for the state Keith was in. He didn’t have time to say the damage was pretty much his own fault. Someone must have set him straight while he was out for him to be in such a fine mood.

“I’m glad you’re up and as much as I’d like to show you how glad I am,” Lance waggles his eyes insinuatingly before sighing with a shrug, “Allura says we have work to do. Everyone’s got missions.”

Keith nods in understanding and readies to change into his armor. He removes the standard suit for wearing in the pod and checks his injuries.

The few cuts he got from the other Blades look nasty. The pod has healed them up but the scars are distinct and raised. He runs a finger over one and grits his teeth. Still hurts, like being burned and having to deal with tender flesh for days afterward.

“Kolivan said you went through a trial,” Lance tells him as he’s pulling on his undersuit and boots. “Said it was pretty rough but you passed.”

“Is that all he said?” Keith asks when he stands and taps the toe to secure the fit.

He keeps thinking back to the moment he rejected the hologram Lance. The hurt in those perfect eyes as he backed away from Keith. He looked so real, so convincing.

And then there was the bloodied and injured Lance desperately searching for a Keith who just wasn’t there. The look of excruciating pain on his face as his leg was shot out from under him and when Shiro burned the wound closed. The fear in his eyes as he thought they were all going to die but still holding out hope for Keith. Calling out for him in the wreckage of a devastated city.

He doesn’t want to think about how possible it all still is. It terrifies him to think Lance, funny, cute, considerate Lance, could still end up just like that if they aren’t careful.

“Yeah, guess the goings on are secret? You’ll tell me what happened right? Or are you sworn to secrecy oh Blade of Marmora?” Lance jokes and laughs but Keith doesn’t seem amused. “You okay? You look--”

Keith suddenly embraces him and holds him tight, prematurely ending his sentence. Lance furrows his brows, concerned but returns the hold and running his fingers through Keith’s hair gently. He squeezes Lance and lets out a weary sigh, swallowing as unpleasant images flash through his memory.

“Pretty bad huh?” Lance asks with a sad smile. Keith nods and heaves another heavy sigh. “Alright, then, let’s _not_ talk about it? You look stressed enou--”

“I did everything I could to save everyone...I died trying to protect you,” Keith whispers raspily to him. He’s starting to cry and it’s making Lance feel teary himself. “And I don’t know if I even succeeded.”

“It was a simulation, right? We’re fine. You’re fine,” Lance assures him and pats his head. “I’m fine. It wasn’t real.”

“If it were I’d--”

“I swear, if you say you’d ‘do the exact same thing’, I’ll punch you. Right here, right now, and I’m not kidding, Keith,” Lance warns. “Yeah, be a warrior for the universe. That’s super cool and hot as hell. But saying that you’d be willing to die for me is not hot and it’s not flattering. It’s depressing. So maybe, don’t do that? I’d rather you lived, please and thanks.”

Keith snorts. Of course, Lance wouldn’t think a declaration like that romantic, no matter how true it is.

He rubs his wet face into Lance’s neck trying to dry it. Lance pulls back and wipes those wet cheeks with his thumbs until they’re clear. He looks sympathetic and brushes Keith’s bangs out of the way before leaning in for a nice deep kiss. Keith relaxes at the gentle caress of tongue on his.

So comforting. He needs this after all the shit he’s seen today.

“Lance,” Keith sighs against his lips, leaning in for more but Lance pulls back.

“To be continued,” Lance winks. “We have work to do, remember?”

Keith sighs, disappointed but he nods in agreement. Later then. He owes Lance some attention at the very least.

Lance helps him with the fit of his chest armor. It smells clean and the bleachy smell lingers on Lance’s fingers. Another reason to make it up to Lance. All this effort on his behalf, especially after he did the exact thing he promised Lance he wouldn’t do by picking a fight with the wrong people.

Keith catalogues his belongings once more before the two of them make their way to the bridge for their orders.

*****

It was a strange couple of days. The plan was fully explained to everyone which included a number of odd jobs that everyone was less than happy about.

Lance complained bitterly that he never gets missions with Keith anymore before departing for his scientist rescue mission with Shiro and Pidge. Which put Keith on a mission with Hunk to dive into the belly of an intergalactic worm known as a Weblum to collect scaltrite.

The Weblum was...disgusting...and exhilarating all at once. Keith could only be thankful for their helmets blocking all manner of smells from the bowels of the creature. With Keith’s nose, he doesn’t imagine he’d have lasted long if he had to smell everything they came across. He’d be puking as often as Hunk does at weird smells and pus bubbles.

Luckily there was enough excitement to keep him focused.

The little monsters inside were weird enough before the strange encounter with a Galra soldier. The uniform looked specially made, nothing like the grunts they’d encountered over their journey. Higher command? Or maybe a special agent? Regardless, they didn’t stick around long enough for him to make pleasantries.

It all went in his report to Shiro, so maybe something will come of it.

Lance’s mission wasn’t without its hiccups as well. Freeing a genius scientist from an impenetrable prison seemed like an impossible task. With Pidge’s expertise, Shiro’s leadership and some finely timed shots from their self-proclaimed ninja-sharpshooter, all’s well that ends well. The party returns home with a brilliant, albeit unique, new ally.

But then the fun really starts.

With the team back everyone is reassigned to new duties. Slav is busy designing a gravity generator with Pidge and Hunk’s help. Shiro and Allura confer almost constantly with Kolivan, planning and preparing for the final assault, making sure nothing can go wrong. Which leaves Lance and Keith taking turns with what the blue paladin likes to call ‘diplomatic escort duty’.

Keith knows babysitting when he sees it.

He’d rather go back into the belly of the Weblum than spend another day shuttling Blades around the castle of lions. And not just because it means he gets no time alone with Lance.

Escorting them is certainly easier on his body but it’s stressful being around them. The first day The Blades wouldn’t speak to him but they were definitely distracted by his presence. They’d stop what they were doing every once in awhile to look up at him, comment quietly amongst themselves, and then return to their duties.

In their off hours they’d gather in groups of three or four and converse in languages he didn’t know. When he’d come into sight he’d feel their conversations shift even if he couldn’t understand the words. What’s worse is it’s hard to read them as most won’t take off their masks unless absolutely necessary.

Then it happened.

One of them waved at him from across the shuttle bay. With a perplexed look, he waved back and entered a whole new level of hell. Now when he walks by a group, one of them inevitably approaches or calls out to him but never with his name. Son of Ghaythra. Ghaythra’s youngling.

At first, it’s flattering. Their interest fills him with a small sense of pride. But the giggling and talking behind his back after he moves on gets tiresome. And they refuse to use his name. He’s told the same girl with a long fluffy tail that his name is Keith no less than three times.

He eventually finds a moment to ask Kolivan about it.

Kolivan explains that many of the training programs they still use to train new recruits were pioneered by his mother. A quarter of them use her techniques in battle themselves. So the younger ones may be a little starstruck in seeing him. And the older ones see him as evidence of her legacy living on. It makes them proud.

Keith gets it, kinda. But that’s all Kolivan has time to explain in passing, leaving the rest to Antok.

“It doesn’t help that you are Ghaythra’s spitting image,” Antok huffs indignantly

Antok still dislikes him which is wonderful. Makes for a brutally honest person, which Keith always appreciates. He doesn’t need sugar coating every word thrown at him and sometimes Antok says things Kolivan won’t say. This is one of those things.

“That so?” Keith asks over his shoulder as he digs his arms into Red’s panels.

“You mean to tell me you have never seen her?” Antok chortles.

“No,” Keith huffs and reaches deeper into the joint.

“I suppose if you had you would not be surprised at their reactions,” Antok admits, his tail flicking around. “Get used to the stares, welp. As long as you look the way you do, they won’t stop.”

Not exactly a pep talk but it encourages him to pull his hair back and out of his face to help deter the resemblance aspect. Antok takes off to join a group of Blades moving supplies about.

With a sigh, Keith hops down from the Red Lion and brushes off his hands in time to see the hangar door open. It’s Lance and he’s bringing in a handful of young Blades, all of them hanging on his every word as he gestures out a story.

He’s in his element, Keith smirks.

With any luck, Lance will help divert their attention from him and his celebrity status. He’s fairly popular with them. His jokes and demeanor put them at ease. He doubts humor is in abundance at the Marmora headquarters so it’s a welcome change to their usual routine.

Looking at them, they don’t even seem like a trained militia when Lance has them on the hook. None of them are even wearing their masks and they’re all smiling. Laughing and smacking Lance’s shoulder in hilarity.

“Oh! It’s Ghaythra’s son!” one of them lights up and bounds over. She looks extremely cat-like, more so than Keith does, complete with long fluffy tail.

“It’s Keith,” he sighs. For the fifth time. But at least now he can put a face to the voice.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” says one of the men and he extends to shake Keith’s hand. Smooth, grey skin with high pointed ears. “I am Korok.”

“Sure,” he nods and shakes it firmly. “What’s going on Lance?”

“These guys wanted to meet you in person. Said they were big fans of yours,” Lance shrugs with a grin. “I thought, why not make their dreams a reality?”

Keith rolls his eyes and scratches his neck. Great, more fans.

An announcement comes over the speakers. Allura’ calls Lance to come to the bridge to help with Slav. He’s being obnoxious again and she can’t leave the teladuv room. She’s helping Coran adjust some of the lenses. That way they can get to the Balmera for the next step and pick up a new crystal.

“I’ll be right back, you can watch these guys right?” Lance asks as he jogs across the room.

“I guess,” Keith sighs, not looking forward to it but having little choice.

“Thanks, Keith, you’re the best,” Lance winks and shoots his finger guns at him. “Play nice!”

Once he’s out the door Keith notices one of the girls sigh. And thankfully it’s not at him.

“He’s so charming,” she swoons, her tail flipping left and right in excitement.

“Who Lance?” Keith snorts. “ _He_ thinks he is.”

The girl standing next to the cat girl chuckles. She reminds him of Ulaz a little in appearance, but her hair pulled back into a ponytail and similar lavender skin tone. “He told me a joke. I can’t even remember it now. I couldn’t stop laughing!”

“He does that,” Keith smirks.

“Handsome too! And he’s named after a weapon. How...evocative,” the cat grins, waggling her brows.

“Stop it Danske. Shame on you,” the other girl smacks her shoulder. “He’s unavailable.”

“Who told you that?” Keith asks curiously.

“No one,” Korok shrugs. “Natsuri just gets these feelings sometimes. She’s usually right.”

“Oh! Kee-ith! You’re friends with the blue paladin,” Danske leans in to whisper. “Is he spoken for? How does one proposition a human? What are the procedures? What’s considered too forward for a dalliance?”

At least she’s gotten closer to his name. And her interest in Lance isn’t surprising. He’s very charming and flirty. Without meaning to it’s likely he’s given many the indication that he’s looking to make friends. Physical friends. Oh boy.

“What would you normally do? If he was Galra?” Keith asks, not bothering to let her know Lance is in fact taken.

“Oh? For a casual encounter?” Natsuri asks then answers for Danske. “One would simply ask. Something serious would be far more involved and not something anyone would have time for at the moment.” She gives Danske a disappointed shake of the head as if embarrassed by her.

She explains that in their culture she would normally spend time together doing something physical. Training, working, sparring. Anything that allowed them time and proximity to become more familiar. Keith notes that that’s not unlike what Keith did without meaning to. They’d share meals and converse. Maybe pet or scent each other to indicate to others they’d like to do more.

“Scent?”

“Smell him,” Danske flushes all of a sudden. “Right at the neck. Maybe a taste too. Oh but that would be far too forward for a human, wouldn’t it? For something...unattached?”

“You’d have to be really intimate for a human to allow that,” Keith admits and she looks semi-disappointed. It’s true though and it’ll deter the likelihood that she’ll try anytime soon. Not that he’s especially concerned.

“Enough about your infatuation with the blue paladin,” Natsuri shoves Danske.

“Indeed. I have a favor to ask, Kee-ith,” Korok steps shyly closer. “Well, Natsuri and I want to ask.”

“What?” Keith raises a brow. He’s given up trying to correct them.

“Can we see your blade?” asks the tall male. “The older ones say you awakened it but we never saw. Can you show us?”

The trio practically vibrates with excitement awaiting his response. Now that he’s looking, they seem far too young to be Blades. In fact, they have no luxite weapons strapped to their bodies. Just standard knives. Initiates, no older than he is. They may even be younger.

Feels like being the popular kid in school again.

“Sure,” he assents with a smirk.

He pulls it to show them the weapon in it’s dormant state. A simple dagger. With nothing more than a thought it changes before them. It extends and grows into a weapon not too dissimilar from a kukri on earth. Their golden eyes go wide, their mouths agape in awe.

“Amazing,” one whispers. “He actually did! And it really is different depending on the wielder!”

“The blade is a curved but the handle is straight,” Natsuri notes. “Proficient for slashing.”

“Nothing like Ghaythra’s weapon,” Korok muses. “It’s so long.”

“That’s what she said,” Lance interrupts and startles the lot of them.

“Lance! You’ve returned!” Danske beams.

“I said I’d be right back. You guys having fun?” Lance grins and hooks an arm around Keith’s neck. He eyes the weapon and whistles. “Hey, look at that. It’s not double-edged like your bayard. Guess that means it's safer for you right?”

That...is true. Sometimes he forgets Lance notices all the little things. He nods in agreement and turns over the blade for the others to ogle. Danske doesn’t seem interested any longer, distracted by Lance’s hanging on Keith so familiarly. Makes her giggle to herself, perhaps contemplating a similar friendly gesture later.

Now, it’s not that he’s feeling possessive, or maybe it is…

Keith catches her eye and pointedly turns his nose into Lance’s neck to inhale his smell. She stops giggling and stares. Keith bares his teeth and makes a move to bite down on Lance’s pulse. Her eyes go wide, fairly startled. He doesn’t though, just barely brushes his lips against the flesh.

Lance is so used to Keith nosing in his hair and smelling him, that he doesn’t even notice the entire transaction. Danske just stares in utter shock and he’s just as surprised at his behavior.

Why did he do that?

He’s not one to typically get territorial when it comes to partners. But then he’s never had what he has with Lance. That being said, he feels bad about scaring the girl. It was unnecessary as Lance is more than capable of handling himself. He’d know how to deter unwanted advances and if it became a problem he would tell Keith. He definitely didn’t need to step in and not so subtly assert dominance to another Galra.

Hopefully, it doesn’t create a rift between team Voltron and the Blades. For now, he looks back to the rest of the group, still ogling his sword. Natsuri makes a face that Keith can only place as confusion.

“What is it?” Keith asks.

“You put a data chip in it? What for?” she points. “Near the emblem.”

Keith turns the weapon and looks closely. Wouldn’t you know, there is something. A little slot that’s practically seamless. If not for her keener eyes Keith never would have noticed it on his own. Or maybe he would have but not so quickly. Has that been there all this time? In both forms? All these years?

“You didn’t put it there,” Korok concludes.  

Keith shakes his head, his heart starting to race. Is it...something left behind by his mother? He’ll need tools or something. It’s too small to pull out, even with fingernails.

“Natsuri, Danske, Korok,” calls the authoritative Antok. “Stop _playing_ with the paladins. You have work to do. ”

They all stand at attention and affirm their orders. Korok gives Keith a respectful bow and the other two follow suit. Danske looks back up, her eyes deferring downwards from his. A submissive response but not an angry one.

“I would never dream of stepping on the son of Ghaythra’s staked claim,” she whispers and then smiles. “But if you’d like a visitor...I follow orders well.”

Keith just blinks back at the candor of her statement while Lance gives them a quizzical look. The three place their masks back on before standing up straight and giving a respectful Marmora salute. They look like anonymous soldiers again.

“Thank you Kee-ith. It was an honor to meet Ghaythra’s son,” Natsuri tells him before they take off for their duties. Lance waits until they’re far enough away to turn to Keith.

“What was that about, with Danske?” Lance raises a brow.

“Not sure,” Keith shrugs. “She was thinking of ‘propositioning’ you. Guess, that’s what the Galra call a fling.”

“Really?” Lance flushes and puts his hands on his hips with a smile. “The Galra sure are forward.”

“Not the first to make a pass at you then?” Keith surmises from that prideful grin. Lance shakes his head.

“The third,” Lance chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. “I turned down two yesterday. I’m just too irresistible.”

“Why don’t you just tell them about me?” Keith asks as he transforms his sword back to dagger form and sheathes it.

“I did. They thought I was pulling another joke,” Lance shrugs with a laugh. “I tell so many stories they don’t know which to believe. Guess I’ll have to kiss you in the middle of a meeting or they’ll never believe me.”

Keith snorts and shakes his head. If just smelling Lance in front of another Galra got her to back off, he imagines a kiss might make them all think twice before flirting with Lance again. He considers it but not too seriously. Lance is handling it, and besides, intimate matters should stay between the two of them, not an audience.

Speaking of, he’s been itching to be alone with Lance for the past several days. Their schedules with escorting duty have been keeping them apart. Even their rest times haven’t coincided. One of them would be restlessly sleeping when the other arrives to wake them and send them off. No time for kisses, let alone something more substantial.

And now he finds there’s a secret data chip in his blade?

As much as he wants to investigate it further, they have too much to do to stop working. And they still need to travel to the Balmera to pick up a new crystal for the giant teladuv. There’s just too much work and not enough vargas in the quintent.

It’s all so stressful.

Lance gives him a gentle reassuring squeeze at the back of his neck and nuzzles his cheek for a kiss before taking off again. It’s better than nothing he supposes. Keith just sighs and continues supervising the Blades in his hanger. He’s looking forward to dinner, downtime, and finally some decent sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> 
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	22. Chapter 22

 

Once the day draws to a close, they all go to the dining hall for a meal. Shiro’s been insisting they all eat together, paladins and Blades, to instill more of a sense of camaraderie. In all honesty, it does seem to be helping. Especially Allura.

Before she would have objected or perhaps just not attend mealtimes. But Shiro’s presence tends to encourage her to make an appearance. And if he sits next to her she’s even more so inclined to participate. Sometimes even conversing on topics not related to overthrowing Zarkon with members of the Blades.

The older ones stick closer to Shiro, Coran, and Allura, preferring mature company to that of the young paladins. This includes Kolivan and Antok, plus a few other Blades that are up there in years. Mostly they discuss important matters while they eat but every once in awhile they’ll draw out a story from Coran of the old days.

The youngest ones hang about Lance mostly. They listen intently as he tells them stories about Earth and how awesome it is. Even insisting they come visit it sometime. Makes Keith happy to see him having such a great time. As much as Lance loves Earth, he doesn’t have much reason to talk about it with their team and since the Marmorites enjoy hearing about new things he has no shortage of audience.

All the others split off among their favorite paladins. Two, in particular, enjoy Pidge’s presence, asking questions after questions about the technology and computer systems aboard the ship. They even trade entertainment for a little information, Pidge giving them time on her games as one of them teaches her some of the Galra alphabet. One seems keen on her but far too shy to say much.

A small group of Blades spends time with Hunk. They talk about tech as well but it inevitably drifts off to food. Hunk takes recipes pointers from any Galra that remembers a time when they had home cooked meals and not nutrient packs. His datapad has nearly sixty different recipes in it now thanks to them.

As for Keith, he sits quietly and eats his food with other more silent types at the end of the table, away from the noise. Or they’re usually pretty quiet. Tonight the one who usually sits across from him finally speaks.

“How peculiar you are,” she comments. She sounds to be around Kolivan’s age and looks it too. “You look like Ghaythra...you don’t much act like her though.”

“You met her?” Keith asks.

“Oh, I knew her as children,” she chuckles. “She is...was very lively. Playful. Friendly. Enjoyed everything. Even in the midst of battle or getting injured she would break into gleeful laughter. ‘That will make a fine memory’, she’d laugh.”

Yeah, that doesn’t sound like Keith at all. He may smile occasionally while training but...fighting’s no laughing matter to him. Getting thrashed or hurt isn’t funny. And certainly not memories he wants to revisit.

“I don’t think...I ever saw her without a grin on her face,” she says almost sadly. “Even with all the terrible things happening in our universe. She kept up an admirable spirit.”

“She was more like that one over there,” another points directly at Lance as he tells the punchline of a joke. The surrounding Galra burst with laughter, begging for another one.

“Yes,” she chuckles. “But her tenacity in battle rivaled some of our top agents. I saw it when we fought you in the trials. Though you lacked her demeanor, her eyes could not have shown through more clearly in yours.”

He doesn’t know whether to be filled with pride or embarrassment. Pride to hear he’s like and yet nothing like his mother. Shame as he was thoroughly clobbered left and right during the trials by those who knew her. Those who expected better from one of their own. Holding him to a standard set by Ghaythra, even if they never said as much.

“Thanks, I guess,” he sighs and pushes away his plate. Appetite gone.

Their admiration for him is based on her merits, not his own. When they look at him they see a shadow of Ghaythra instead of the Red Paladin of Voltron. Instead of just Keith.

Lance spots him standing to leave and gives him a concerned glance. Keith shakes his head to tell Lance not to worry about it. It’s not like he knows how to explain it, this weird feeling. As much as he wants to know more about his mother...he doesn’t want to be compared to her. He rather they be seen as separate entities.

He ignores the stares he receives as he leaves the hall early to relax in Red’s cockpit. Once he’s inside his lion he begins fiddling with his blade again. Trying to get that chip Natsuri spotted. He pokes and prods for half a varga. Tries pushing it to eject it. Tries voice commands. Nothing.

With a defeated sigh he brushes his fingers down the sharp edge and cuts his thumb. Such a small cut but it burns like acid. Luxite cuts have a bite to them. He winces and sticks the bloody appendage in his mouth.

Would it react to Ghaythra’s blood? His blood? What the hell, he’s tried everything else.

As a last ditch attempt, he rubs the stained finger across the emblem and it glows brighter. His eyes go wide with excitement. The chip ejects and he hums approvingly. He pulls the chip out while using his other hand to power up the lion. It’s got to have a way to process the data.

“Red, can you do anything with this?” he asks.

After a moment a few lights come up and a slot opens in the correct size off to his left. He pops it in and a data progression screen pops up. Encrypted. The disappointment is entirely too apparent on his face. It may take a while. He enters a few data commands to ensure it’ll transfer to his archives when finished.

As much as he doesn’t want to leave, wants to sit there and watch as it slowly completes decryption, he needs a shower. He also finds he’d like to give and receive a little attention from Lance. Maybe if they’re lucky they’ll get an hour overlap in their rest times.

Keith misses his touch. His voice in his ear. The smell of his skin. The taste of his mouth when he moans his name. God, has it really only been four days since they last kissed? Feels like weeks.

Keith’s communicator beeps. A message from Lance.

 _L.M - Hey, finally free from dinner. Asked the Marmorites to_  
_wash dishes for me so I could clock out early. They’re so_ _  
taken with me they fought each other for the privilege._

 _I’m free for the next ten hours._  
_  
L.M - Shower with me?_

Keith smiles and types back.

**_K.K - Read my mind. Be there in a tick._ **

_L.M - I’ll be waiting._

He puts away the device and double checks the status of the decryption to guestimate its completion time. Hours. Nothing to do about it. Pulls up the interior cameras to get a look at himself.

Tired. Slightly dark circles under his eyes to show restless sleep. His hair’s a mess. Combing his fingers through and pulling it up helps a little but it’s starting to get unmanageable lately. Some of it is too short to pull back but long enough to get his face. Everything in between sticks up everywhere. Maybe Shiro’s right and he really should cut it.

Lance would throw a fit, he can already see it. No mullet to bury his nose in and breathe his scent as they sleep? Nothing to tug and pull while they kiss?

Well, for now, it’s presentable. Lance probably won’t care if it’s messy anyway.

After he gives himself the once over again, he hops out of the cockpit and climbs down his lion to hurry along to their room. He takes steps to avoid those who look like they’re about to call out to him by keeping his distance. Even gives off a stern look to suggest he doesn’t have time for pleasantries so they lower their hands and forgo conversation.

Good. Keith doesn’t want to hear another person butcher his name tonight anyway.

Just wants to hear Lance, breathy with desire. Humming contentedly as he feels Keith’s body. Whispering his name because he can’t keep is adoration to himself. Not because he’s Galra. Not because he’s son of a prestigious soldier. Not even because he’s the Red Paladin of Voltron.

Because he’s Keith and he loves the taste of his name on his lips.

Keith opens the door to their shared room to find the lovable oaf sprawled out on the bed in his bathrobe, posed like the centerfold of a nude magazine with a flower in his mouth.

“Oh my god,” Keith deadpans then resists the urge to burst.

“Why hello there,” Lance grins, stem in his mouth. “Come here often?”

Keith snorts, a rush of laughter escaping him from trying to hold it in. And he just can’t stop. It’s just...so Lance, he can’t even be surprised. Lance just looks on, pleased as punch to see Keith’s face go from serious to wheezing with laughter, his eyes squeezed shut with glee. His own eyes soften on Keith to just admire him as he takes the flower out of his mouth and twirls it.

“Where’d you get a flower?” Keith breathes as he wipes amused tears from his eyes.

“It’s actually made of paper,” Lance admits. “And a little glue and plastic tubing. I’m very resourceful.”

Lance extends it to Keith who takes it with a smile. He should have known as much. A blue rose isn’t exactly common and they haven’t stopped by any foresting planets lately. It smells faintly of cologne and Lance’s toothpaste from where he was biting on it.

“Learned from some of the other Galra that you might have a sensitive nose,” Lance relays. “So I thought--”

“It’s great Lance,” Keith interrupts and smells it again. As if Lance were a rose. He’ll put it in the Red Lion when he gets the chance but for now, he puts it down on the side table. There are other things on his mind.

He reaches out to cradle Lance’s face as he lowers himself to the bed for a kiss. Lance hums approvingly and bares his neck to Keith’s incoming mouth. Keith brushes his lips there and closes his eyes as he inhales deeply, sending a shiver down his body. Still so good.

Keith runs his hand down Lance’s neck, down his shoulder, to push the robe aside to expose Lance’s skin. Of course, he’s not wearing anything under there.  Keith kisses his shoulder, mouths his hot skin with a sigh as his fingers slide in under the fabric. Lance reaches back, slipping a hand under his shirt to graze his stomach and hook a finger into his waistband.

“Want to shower?” Lance asks and Keith shakes his head.

“Not yet,” he whispers.

He tilts Lance’s head back and kisses him with a sigh. Yes, this is what he wants. He noses at Lance’s chin and presses his mouth to his throat to kiss, to nip and lick. When he sweeps his tongue over Lance’s pulse the blue paladin lets out a gasp.

“Keith,” he sighs.

That’s right, he wants to hear Lance say his name. Over and over.

Keith keeps licking and kissing his neck, his hand sliding down Lance’s body until he can get a hold on his semi-hard cock. It stiffens quickly in his grasp as Lance humps into his hand with a moan. Good to know that Lance has been missing it too.

“Lay back Lance,” Keith tells him. “I want to taste you.”

Lance nods his head. He rolls as Keith climbs over him and pulls open his robe with desperate flourish to expose his naked body. It brings a surprised flush to Lance’s face. Perfect. Keith’s hands travel down his body, making him shiver until they take purchase on Lance’s hips. Just the sight of his twitching cock makes his mouth water.

Keith doesn’t even work him up with a teasing lick. He just goes straight down, sinking Lance’s entire length into his mouth with a hungry moan. Lance shudders and arches into his mouth.

“F-Fuck Keith, s-slow down maybe?” Lance gasps. “We got all night.”

They sure do and if Keith has any say in it, Lance is coming as many times as he can get him in that span of time.

Keith sucks and swirls his tongue around the head before plunging down again, spit already dribbling down his chin. Takes him deep and moans when he tastes Lance leaking precome. More, he wants to taste more. He pulls off with a pant and dips his hands under him to get a hold of his thighs.

In one swift motion, he flips Lance over onto his knees and pulls his hips in close, lips pressed to his ass. Tongue darting out to rim Lance’s cute little asshole.

“K-Keith,” Lance quivers and moans.

“Louder,” Keith tells him, slathering him with his probing tongue. He wants every Galra within a hundred yards to hear what he’s doing to Lance. Wants them to know who’s doing it too.

“I-I-ah,” Lance bites his lip to stay quiet.

“I said louder, Lance,” Keith repeats.

Keith spreads his cheeks further, hooking his thumbs into his ass and opening him up for all of his tongue before piercing him with it. Lance practically screams his name and God does it sound exquisite. Such a nice sound deserves praise

“Good, Lance,” Keith practically purrs into him as he tastes and cradles his balls. “So good…touch yourself, now.”

Lance flushes as he pants and whimpers with pleasure. He does love being told he’s good. Lance grips himself, pulls and strokes as Keith continues his work. He gives Lance a few nice bites on his ass cheeks between morsels, knowing how much it riles him up.

That’s when Lance noticeably slows his stroking down to a stop and Keith objects.

“Keep going,” Keith tells him and bites his ass hard, making Lance groan.

“I’ll...come…” Lance pants, his face hot. “It’s too...soon…We just...started...I don’t...”

Impatient, Keith flips him again revealing Lance’s cock. Swollen and flushed, dripping and seconds from bursting. Keith swallows him down to the hilt and that’s all it takes. Lance shakes and spills into him with a ragged moan. Not a single drop escapes him and it's so delicious Keith can’t help but blush and sigh happily.

He sure missed the way Lance breathes and sighs. The way his body rolls into his and quakes under Keith’s touch. The way Lance revels in being pampered and praised. He hates going even a day without being able to kiss Lance’s smirking mouth...going on four days now has him wanting to make up for the lost time in any way he can.

“Keith,” Lance lets out a deep breath and looks down between his legs. He cradles Keith’s cheek to tilt his head up to look him in the eyes. “Want to shower now?”

“Sure,” Keith smirks. “That’ll give you time to recharge before I get you again.”

“Again?” Lance grins, excitement flashing in his eyes.

Keith nods and pulls him up from the bed to his feet for a tight embrace. Lance expects it to be a quick hug with a smack to his ass to hurry him into the bathroom but Keith maintains his hold. He grips tight, breathing softly at his neck. When it lasts longer than a minute, Lance begins to worry a little.

“Keith? You--”

“Thanks,” he sighs. “You’re the only one who’s said my name right all day.”

Lance’s eyes soften.

“They just see her, ” Keith sighs. “Ghaythra. They don’t see me.”

Lance knows all too well how that feels. To have all his efforts overshadowed by someone who is smarter, more skilled, and just all around better.

Back on Earth, Keith was that shadow. Everyone at the Garrison knew who Keith was. No one knew Lance. He was just ‘that guy who took Keith’s spot’. No one cared about his accomplishments because someone already did them and did them better.

“You’ll show them,” Lance squeezes him back. “You’re not defined by her Keith. And when we stop Zarkon, we’ll throw a parade and your name will be everywhere as the paladin that saved the universe.”

Lance pulls back to look at Keith’s face, still somewhat dejected.

“ _Your_ name, Keith,” Lance tells him and tips his chin up. “Not hers. _Yours_.”

Keith manages a smirk. “Yours too,” he adds.

“Well, of course! I am the most important member of the team. Me and Hunk. Without legs, how can Voltron kick Zarkon in the face?” Lance brags proudly. “Come on, let's go shower. I’m gonna blow you while we’re in there and you’re gonna return the favor a second time tonight before we fall asleep.”

That sounds agreeable to him. He nods and proceeds to strip his clothes while Lance turns on the water. Lance goes ahead and hops in while Keith looks at himself again in the mirror. He pulls the band out from his hair, making those unruly waves of hair flip out in every direction.

What is it they see, he wonders. What about him specifically that looks so much like her? His nose? Are his ears the same? Or is it just the eyes?

The young ones stare like he’s famous but the old ones stare like they’ve seen a ghost. It’s probably not easy for them either. Kolivan especially, he stares with more frequency in a way that suggests familiarity. He knew her and it must be surreal seeing her face when he suddenly turns a corner.

Water gets flicked in his direction breaking his concentration.

“Keith? You coming in?” Lance asks.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” he blinks and shoulders his way into the stream.

It starts with cleaning like they intended. Lance moves on to wash his back, to sweep that soapy cloth over his body and help him relax. It helps and after they rinse Lance gently directs him to the wall, pressing his back against the cool surface. With a smile, Lance takes to his knees and noses Keith’s crotch.

Keith sighs as Lance licks him, laps him into hardness. That glorious pink tongue working hard, seeking out the arousal from his cock. Lance licks his lips before wrapping them around the head and sucking what little precome he can get. His eyes flutter up to look at Keith as he takes the length deep into his warm mouth.

“You’re getting really good,” Keith compliments and Lance flushes crimson at the praise.

Lance works harder after hearing that, bobbing up and down, stifling his own moans with Keith’s cock. Keith’s eyes roll back in his head for a second as Lance almost chokes himself, pushing as deep as possible. His fingers splay in Lance’s wet hair and pull at the roots in his revelry. If it’s too rough, Lance never says as much, only continuing to trace his tongue down the underside of Keith’s shaft.

“You’re doing so good,” Keith hums down to him and Lance moans appreciatively. “How to repay you…”

“Please,” Lance gasps when he takes a break for air. “You know...you know Keith…”

Keith does know but that desperate plea in his voice teases his imagination. He wants Lance more than begging for it. Wants him desperate and pleading, practically debasing himself for it.

He cradles the back of Lance's head, fingers twitching in his hair before he tightens his hold again and begins fucking Lance’s face. Lance’s shocked little moans and sighs are almost lost in the thrusting. Lance rakes his fingers down Keith’s thighs and grips tight on his calfs, assisting in any way he can by pushing and pulling.

Lance manages whimpering begging noises between thrusts and he has to wonder how ready the blue paladin is for him. Keith pulls him off and Lance lets out a wretched whine in protest, trying to pull himself closer or out of Keith’s hold to return to his cock. Can't get enough of that flushed face, that heady lidded gaze as he tries to stretch forward for more. It’s almost desperate enough.

“Keith, please, I’ll--I’ll do anything,” Lance pleads weakly. “You c-can tie me up. T-Tease me all night. Bite me, f-finger me, anything! Just...let me t-taste you, all of you.”

Keith’s eyes go wide with curious interest.

“Want to be fingered, Lance?” Keith smirks. “Is that what you’ve been doing without me?”

Lance turns red with shame as he avoids Keith’s gaze.

It’s true. He’s been practicing in some of their downtimes. He was lonely after all and they weren’t getting any time to be intimate. Two days ago he gave it a try in the shower with just one finger, teasing and probing gently to get a feel for it.

He didn’t know if he’d like it and at first he wasn’t sure if he did. All it took to change his mind was thinking about Keith doing it instead. Keith curling his finger into his ass to work him loose while biting gently at his shoulder, whispering praises. It relaxed him easily and he’d been able to get off with just two fingers. No cock stroking required.

He tried it again just yesterday and it’s making him more inclined to try with Keith.

“What did you think about?” Keith asks as he brings Lance a little closer but still out of reach.

“Y-You, Keith,” Lance pants. “Who else w-would I think about? P-Please, Keith…let me--”

“Alright, alright. Open up,” Keith tells him as he pushes forward into him. “Nice and deep. That’s _my good_ Lance.”

Lance whimpers, grateful as his tongue swirls around his cock seeking that telltale flavor and finding it in the slit. Keith rocks his hips into Lance’s mouth until he gets the exact rhythm he needs. Lance knows it's coming, hears Keith’s pants getting shorter and faster, making him moan with anticipation.

“L-Lance!” is the only warning Keith can gasp out as he erupts.

Ropes of come shoot into Lance’s mouth as Keith shudders out his orgasm. He doesn’t dare close his eyes though, as he wants to see Lance receive him.

Lance’s eyes go wide at the initial spurt but then lid as more fills him. The salty sweetness of that thick fluid coating his mouth. Instead of immediately swallowing Lance swirls his tongue to spread the flavor around with the most obscene moan Keith’s ever heard.

“You like that?” Keith pants with a smile, getting his breath back. “Swallow it down...all of it...that’s it...good.”

Keith strokes his hair while Lance sucks down all he can, opening his mouth with a gasp showing Keith he still has some on his tongue before resuming. He laps at Keith’s cock, trying to get as much as he can, taking breaks to sigh and rub his face on Keith’s thigh. His heady grin never leaves his face as he looks up at Keith from the ground, positively enraptured by what he sees.

“You alright?” Keith asks as he turns off the water.

Lance just nods drunkenly, he even lets out a giggle as he runs a hand up Keith’s thigh. He nibbles and bites at his skin and rubs his cheek on his leg.

“It’s hot in here,” Lance hums. “You’re hot in here. I’m kinda dizzy.”

“I’ll bet,” Keith nods and kneels down to help him up. He shoulders him but Lance isn’t making it easy. He won’t put his weight on his legs all the way, opting to nose at Keith’s skin instead.

“Mmmm...you’re skin’s so soft, Keith,” Lance comments and runs a hand down his chest. “Mmm...and warm. God, what is in that stuff…? Can’t think straight. Ha, get it? Cause you’re super gay.”

Keith just chuckles with a nod and puts him down to sit on the bed. Without prompting Lance just falls back with a happy sigh, his eyes dilating to the size of dinner plates as he tries to focus on the ceiling. He comments on the bed being really soft as he fingers the sheets, that everything feels so good on his skin.

Well, Keith was going to try and get him again but in his current state...he’s not sure it’s the best plan. How in control of his own actions and decisions is Lance when dosed like this? Capable of consent? Keith isn’t sure and that uncertainty is enough for him to not initiate anything else. If something more is going to happen, it’ll be because Lance wants to do it.

Lance taps his shoulder and gestures for something.

“Your hand, your hand. Give it to me,” Lance smiles.

Keith gives it to him with a raised brow and Lance slaps it to his chest.

“Feel that?” Lance asks and Keith nods. It’s just his heartbeat. “It’s so loud. And so fast.”

“You’re high as a kite,” Keith tells him, amused at his behavior.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s always like this. Specially around you,” Lance smiles at him and Keith flushes dark purple as he clears his throat with a huff.

Lance takes Keith’s hand and threads it into his hair with a sensual sigh. Keith massages his head and if Lance could purr he probably would. While he does that Lance reaches down and touches himself, pulls and strokes with loud sighs. Maybe, Lance will handle it himself.

“Everything feels so...good. Brighter. Sharper,” Lance tries to explain. “You said you were going to get me off twice.”

“Yeah,” Keith nods. “But then you went and swallowed the equivalent of a tab of ecstasy.”

“Mmmm...sure did,” Lance waggles his eyes.

“Means I probably shouldn’t,” Keith clarifies. “You’re compromised.”

He stares at Keith for a prolonged time before whispering, “Fuck, you’re so beautiful.”

Keith flushes anew as Lance sits up suddenly and crowds in his space, his eyes falling on Keith’s lips. If he was forward before, he’s even more so now. His hand cups Keith’s cheek, fingers inching to his locks and twirling in them to pull closer.

“Your face when you sucked me off...that blush...no one else gets to see that but me,” Lance sighs. He kisses Keith’s lips, tongue darting in for a moment to run over Keith’s fangs. Both of them shiver at the sensation. “I wish...I could have seen your face when we fucked...when you shouted my name and came all over my hand…”

Lance’s hand runs down Keith’s neck and coming to a stop at Keith’s nipple. He just trails the tip of his finger in circles over it before firmly pinching it between his thumb and forefinger, watching with enraptured delight as Keith bites his lip. He pinches again and sucking down the sounds coming out of Keith’s mouth with a kiss.

“Lance,” Keith moans softly as Lance kisses him again. If Lance keeps this up, Keith’s going to want to go again too. He can already feel himself stirring.

“Keith I--” Lance starts and then swallows the remaining words with wide eyes. His face flushes red and not from arousal as he turns away from Keith’s lips.

“Lance?”

“Sorry…I was gonna…” Lance wipes his face nervously. “It’s really hot in here. I think I’ll...get some water.”

Lance stands quickly, sways for a moment but stabilizes, and steps over to the bathroom.

Keith listens as the water runs. He doesn’t hear Lance drink, only breathe heavily over the sink. Like he’s getting ready to throw up or trying to calm himself. Then he hears Lance whisper to himself.

“So stupid...he’s not...he doesn’t...want to hear that... _word_ …” Lance berates quietly.

Doesn’t want to hear…?

_You can’t say that._

_If you tell me that it makes it..._ **_real._ **

It hits Keith hard when he realizes what Lance means, his own words echoing in his mind.

Suddenly he feels terrible. Lance is trying so hard not to do anything that might scare Keith away.  It’s hard for Lance to keep from speaking his mind under normal circumstances, under these it must be torture. Those chemicals make it so much harder to keep thoughts inside his head. Was this a mistake, Keith worries.

“I want it...more,” Lance trembles with a sigh. “It’s all too much...God, Keith. I want to keep you--What do I do? How do I…?”

Keith stands and approaches the door, listening to Lance take deep calming breaths. Then Lance just starts repeating ‘I love you’ over and over as quietly as possible, to get it out of his system. By the time he says it ten times Keith’s face is an inferno, the heat from his cheeks traveling down to bloom on his chest as well. Lance keeps repeating it until he no longer feels the compulsion to scream it over the intercoms.

“That should be enough,” Lance sighs, his face feeling cooler. “It’s wearing off. Thank God.”

One more minute being under the influence was going to turn him into a needy blathering idiot. While turning off the sink he takes a shaky breath, ready to face Keith again. He nearly jumps out of his skin when Keith raps his knuckles on the frame to get his attention. Only the remnants of a blush still on his face.

“Feeling better?” he asks.

“Y-Yeah,” Lance nods, fairly sure he’s in the clear. “You still wanna...get me again?”

“Sure,” says Keith as he steps into the bathroom.

He turns Lance around and steps up on his toes to kiss him. Whatever effect his come had on him is mostly gone. His eyes are far more clear now, though his face still maintains an amorous hue. And he finds Lance is very responsive, his body still sensitive to every small touch.

From brushes on his neck, tongue caressing tongue, and biting at Lance’s lip, he gets a myriad of loud moans from the blue paladin. His cock instantly stiffens as Keith pinches his nipple between his teeth. Lance gasps and asks for another, please. Keith happily obliges, his mouth biting hard on his pec as his hands squeeze on Lance’s ass.

“Still want me to finger you?” Keith sighs, licking the bite mark he’d given him.

Lance nods and Keith gives him a look suggesting he needs more than just a nod. So he answers vocally. Yes, he does want it. The lube is hiding under the sink still from the last time Lance used it. Keith pulls it out and sets it on the counter before turning Lance around yet again to face the mirror.

“Bend over a little Lance,” Keith suggests. “Use the counter to brace yourself.”

“Okay,” says Lance breathy, nervous but excited.

Keith slicks a single finger with plenty of lube while eyeing Lance’s opening. If he’s been practicing it should go in pretty easy. At least the first one should. He teases the rim with his finger, spreading the lube all over and rubbing gently on the sensitive skin. Keith can see Lance’s face in the mirror as he circles his asshole. Flushed and expectant.

“Ready?” Keith asks.

“Yeah--mmmhhh!” Lance moans as Keith easily presses into him.

Keith places a hand on Lance’s hip to steady him as he dips in slowly, curling his finger to get a feel for Lance’s insides. His finger searches and probes, in and out, coaxing little moans out of Lance. He wants to find Lance’s prostate, just so he can make him quiver and buckle. The second he finds it Lance grips tight on the counter with a great moan.

“Christ! K-Keith! What d-did you--!” Lance cries out and bites down on his knuckles to silence himself.

“Prostate,” Keith tells him with a smirk, removing his finger from him to allow Lance a chance to relax and to apply more lube.

“Feels...like I’m going to…” Lance gasps and touches himself. “Fuck...I’m dripping already.”

“That’s what happens,” Keith informs him and massages in two fingers, going for the same spot.

Lance manages to muffle his mewling cry by biting down on his fist again. This feels so much better than doing it himself, and Keith seems to know where all the buttons are in there. His cock is leaking so much precome now, feels like he’s being milked with each rub of fingers. God where is it all coming from? It drips in a little river down the side of the counter. And he’s unable to stop himself from rubbing his aching cock against any surface he can.

A month ago Lance would have been hesitant to do this. Now he’s panting and gasping as he whines Keith’s name just as he hits the sweets spots. His brows furrowed high as he enjoys the penetrating force of three fingers pressing and rubbing inside him. And now he finds himself rocking himself back and forth wanting more than just fingers in there.

Keith leans, nosing and biting at Lance’s back, wanting to see his partner shake more under all the stimulation. But through it all Lance holds his noises in, whining behind his fist and moaning each time Keith pushes in. What he wouldn’t give to hear him shout.

“Will you...f-fuck me, Keith?” Lance asks with a groan making Keith's eyes go wide with barely contained excitement.

Hell-fucking-yes he will.

“Only if you take your fist out of your mouth,” says Keith as he runs his tongue down Lance’s spine. “So everyone can hear you.”

“Keith,” Lance whines but he takes his fist away to grip it on the counter. “To the bed?”

“No, right here. I want to see your face in the mirror,” Keith tells him as he withdraws his fingers. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Keith quickly rummages through their drawer and slips on a condom. Lance’s first time, he suddenly remembers. It should be special, tender...He returns behind him, hands on his hips, rubbing his cock in the cleft of Lance’s ass slowly, working up his anticipation. Lance sighs as Keith bends to kiss his back.

“You sure?” Keith asks, just in case. Lance nods and Keith gives him a look again in the mirror. “You can’t just nod, Lance.”

“Please, fuck me,” Lance affirms, looking back at him in the reflection. “I’m...ready.”

He presses in just the fat head of his cock and Lance instantly tenses.

“Relax or we’re not doing this,” Keith tells him, his hands caressing Lance’s sides.

“I...okay,” he gulps.

“I’m not going to hurt you Lance, just...relax,” Keith takes a deep breath and waits for Lance to do the same.

He breathes in then out, his body slowly unwinding. Keith would never hurt him, he tells himself.

Keith hums and kisses gently to aide in the process. One centimeter at a time, he pushes in and each time he whispers little praises to a moaning Lance. Doing good. That’s it. Just a little further. Almost there. Until finally he’s in up to his base.

“See? Nothing to it,” Keith bites back a groan, wanting so badly to start thrusting. “But I’m going to need you to relax even more if you want me to keep going.”

Keith reaches over and squirts some lube into his hand. He spreads in into his palm before reaching around and stroking Lance’s hard dick, sweeping sticky precome up and down his length to mix with the lube. He can feel Lance’s ass lose some of that tension but it’s not enough. Keith doesn’t want this to hurt in any way, so he resists that primal urge to pull out and propel back in hard and fast the way he likes to.

“What’s got you nervous, Lance?” Keith tries asking.

“I’m not...nervous,” Lance breathes as Keith strokes him.

“Want to go back to fingers?” Keith suggests. “We can if you want.”

Lance shakes his head no. “Just...keep talking to me...it helps.”

“Alright, I’m going to pull out a little and slowly push back in. So you can get used to me,” Keith tells him and Lance nods his understanding.

He does this a few times, pulls out about halfway before pressing himself back into Lance’s tight hole. It elicits some grunts of discomfort at first but after the third time he feels Lance relax more, and after the fifth Lance sighs in pleasure.

Keith can’t get enough of Lance’s face at each stage.

The beginning, trying to hard to stay calm, his face scrunched up with the unease of the unfamiliar but trying to enjoy it. Then something happened. He released a sigh that traveled throughout his body, taking an immense amount of pressure off himself allowing that cock to go in easier. And that was definitely enjoyable. He allowed himself to relax even further to receive Keith deeper and it brought a flush to his face.

Finally, Lance at ease in his grasp.

“This...feels good,” Lance sighs.

“It’s supposed to,” Keith chuckles.

“Go faster?”

“Slow for now,” Keith tells him, though he is sorely tempted to take Lance up on that.

Keith thrusts in at a leisurely pace but you’d think he was fucking Lance six ways from Sunday with how he moans. He’s long since stopped stroking Lance to get him to relax. He doesn’t need it anymore.  Instead, he focuses on Lance's face as his penetrating length slides in and out of his tight ass, trying to hit his prostate again.

A hand winds around Lance’s neck to make him look up at the mirror, so they can see each other. The sight of Keith’s face, just as flushed as his own, turns Lance on even more. Keith’s eyes raking down his body with a hungry gaze. He clearly wants to go faster, much faster but he’s pacing himself for Lance’s sake.

He hits the sweet spot and Lance cries out, gripping tight on the counter as his body is wracked with pleasure. He can’t not cry out with gratified delight. That sound makes Keith crazy, makes him want to hear it over and over. He leans in as close as he can to whisper to Lance.

“I…” Keith swallows thickly. “I _love_ when you do that Lance. You make such good sounds.”

“Someone’s...going to hear…” Lance pants as Keith thrusts.

“I want them to hear,” Keith purrs into his back, his fingers dig into Lance’s hips. “Want them to smell me all over you. Want them to see you covered in my marks. Want them to know _you’re mine_ , Lance.”

Lance’s eyes go wide at the possessiveness of that statement and not in a bad way.

“God, K-Keith…fuck...I’m...”

Lance isn’t going to make it much longer, not with the way Keith is talking to him. Working him into knots. Something about him being so covetous of Lance makes him feel special. More, he wants more.

“F-Faster Keith, please,” Lance implores. “I’ll--”

“Do anything?” Keith smirks, almost chuckles as he hits Lance’s prostate twice before leaving it alone again. He’s already fucking him into begging writhing mess, there isn’t much more Lance could offer to make him speed up. Lance whines and bucks his hips, trying in vain to get that feeling back.

He’s finding there is something he’d like from Lance. Something he didn’t want before but now that he’s seeing Lance like this, opened up and screaming his name, he finds himself in need of it. It would even make Lance’s first time even more memorable.

Keith slows down considerably but manages to hit the sweet spot with each penetration. It’s got Lance keening and biting on his moans as his body shakes with need.

“I’ll go as fast as you want, Lance,” Keith promises, a blush dancing on his cheeks in anticipation for what he’s about to ask. “But I want you to do something for me…”

Keith reaches around to grasp onto Lance and gently stroke him. Building him back up to full hardness as Lance gasps for his breath back.

“I heard you earlier,” Keith tells him, pressing in with a groan. Lance’s eyes widen, letting Keith know he knows exactly to what he’s referring. “Lance...I can hear you from across the hangar bays...two yards from our bed--you may as well be standing next to me, saying it to my face.”

“I’m sor--”

“Unless the next words out of your mouth are ‘I love you’ I don’t want to hear anything else from you tonight,” Keith flushes a deep plum as he strokes and presses in.

Is he...serious?

Keith pulls out and thrusts back in just as quickly, picking up the promised speed as his hips smack into Lance’s ass. Lance lets out a loud wailing moan as he looks back at Keith in the mirror. He’s serious, his face expectant. Keith wants him to say it aloud right now. Lance’s wanted this for so long, it’s flying out of his mouth before he can stop himself.

“I love you, Keith!” he gasps desperately. “Fuck...I l-l-love you--s-s-so much! Don’t stop, please! Keith!”

The rush of emotions and sensations as Keith pounds him relentlessly mount quickly, their cocks heavy and swollen and ready to release. But it’s not enough, Keith finds he wants to hear it again, louder with each thrust. And he’s not above begging for it now that he’s had a taste.

“Again!” Keith pants and moans. “Fuck, say it again. Lance!”

“I love you--ah!--Keith! I--ahhh!--love you,” Lance practically screams. “Faster, p-please! Christ, I’m so...so close!”

Anything for Lance. He rails into him vigorously, nailing his prostate each and every time, Lance’s keening wails increasing in volume with each successive hit. Lance bites into his own arm trying to silence himself but Keith won’t let him. He threads his fingers into Lance’s hair and yanks back to free his mouth as he pummels his ass and strokes. Lance gasps and pants, whining at the feeling of being filled and the rough pulling of Keith’s hands.

Those moans are music to Keith’s ears and with how loud they're being anyone within this sector of the ship is hearing it. No doubt about it. They’re going to get looks tomorrow and he doesn’t even care.

“That’s _my_ Lance,” Keith coos, and Lance’s breath hitches. “Come for me, nice and loud.”

“Keeeeith!” Lance wails.

He bursts like a volcanic eruption. Come all over the counter and Keith’s hand as his body shakes from his blinding orgasm. Keith doesn’t stop though and rides out his own orgasm while sucking on his fingers sticky with Lance.

“God, Lance! Mmm!” he grunts out a moan, his mouth full of fingers as he comes into Lance’s perfect ass.

It's so overwhelming. His body shudders, slowly coming down from the high. Once he’s regained his senses, he gives Lance’s thigh a gentle pat as he pulls slowly out.

“K-Keith, oh my god...f-fuck,” Lance wheezes, his voice raspy from all his screaming. “I can’t...my legs are asleep...”

“You locked your knees,” Keith comments with a smirk as he throws away the condom. “I got you.”

Keith shoulders him and drags him to the shower again, to get all the lube off. Lance does nothing, just lets Keith’s clean him up and relax under his soft touch as he thinks.

Why did Keith want him to say those things? Before he wanted nothing to do with anything of the sort. Didn’t want to think about how fragile this all was. That tomorrow one of them could die and leave the other with nothing but an aching heart.

But there was a gentleness in Keith’s voice as he guided him through his first time. A fondness in the caresses that eased his distress and relaxed his body. Soft eyes taking him in at every moment they moaned and moved together. Even now he takes extra care to clean him up, being mindful of his sore rear and affectionately kissing his neck.

Keith loves him too.

Of course, he knew this from their movie date. Keith just has yet to actually say it in those words. Does this mean...he doesn’t mind if Lance says it anymore?

“I love you,” Lance whispers and the washing hand stops for a second before resuming.

“I know,” Keith responds coolly.

“Dude, did you just...Star Wars me?” Lance turns and smiles incredulously.

“Is that a movie?” Keith raises a brow to feign ignorance but it doesn’t last long under Lance’s disbelieving eyes. He snorts, trying to hold back a laugh.

“You did!” Lance shoves with a laugh. “You’re an ass.”

“That’s fine. Makes you Leia,” Keith strikes back and nuzzles Lance’s neck. “Han loved her.”

“He was bad at showing it though,” Lance adds.

“Yeah...he was,” Keith sighs, squeezing Lance tight.

They sit together under the stream quietly long after they finish cleaning up, Lance cradled in Keith’s arms. At Lance’s insistence, they get out of the water fifteen minutes later. Hot water’s bad for your skin, he claims. They dry off, slip on clean underwear, and fall into bed with an exhausted sigh.

Lance hums happily, hugging into Keith’s chest to listen to his heartbeat. Keith just massages his fingers through Lance’s hair, assisting him in drifting off to slumber. He keeps thinking about what they did, how easy it was for Lance to say he loved him. How good it was to hear.

He used to think it impossible for someone to love him because he had never loved someone in return. And not the way he loved his dad or even Shiro. It’s not the same and even Keith knows there are different tiers of love. He never found anything like it on Earth. No amount of lays and blowjobs in the dark ever approached anything that even came close to the elation of just seeing Lance smile at him.

That has to be love. It has to be.

Maybe...Keith looks down at the guy breathing quietly against his chest with a smile. Maybe, it’s finally time to acknowledge it. 

“Lance, you awake?” Keith whispers.

“Mmmm...yeah, what’s up?” Lance yawns.

Keith cups his head to his chest and tilts down to kiss his crown. “I...love you.”

“I know,” Lance smiles and pats his stomach. “Go to sleep Han Solo. Gonna need rest if we want to do a repeat of tonight. I’m wiped.”

Keith just huffs a laugh. He doesn’t know what he expected. A squeal of delight? Another dance about their room? Keith flushes dark purple, squeezing Lance tight with pure joy and Lance hugging back. He wants to go again but they’re both too tired for anything more.

So he turns on his side and pulls the blanket up to cover them. Lance readjusts his position to bury his face in Keith’s hair, his favorite spot, and spooning his body in close. His breath warm on his neck as he sighs.

“You...love me….Loser,” Lance hums.

“Guess so,” Keith smirks.

“Me too...but about you,” Lance mumbles, practically asleep already.

Keith takes Lance’s hand and puts it over his heart, which just thunders away with delight. This is what it means to be happy. To feel like a void has been filled. He took a chance on this thing with Lance, crossed that threshold to close the distance he’d been putting between them out of fear.

Sure, he could still lose it all. But he won’t regret it. 

If Lance is the only person in the universe that loves him, for the rest of his life; Keith’s more than okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	23. Chapter 23

A loud beeping resounds from Keith’s jacket. It goes mostly ignored until Lance rolls in the bed with a grumble. He shoves Keith to alert him to it.

“What did you set an alarm for?” Lance mumbles. checking his watch results in a groan. “We don’t have to be up for another four vargas. Turn it off, Keith.”

“Yeah yeah,” Keith huffs as he sits up and scratches his head, groggy from sleep.

He doesn’t even remember setting an alarm. After stumbling and tripping over one of Lance’s boots he reaches the chair on his knees and digs into his pocket with a groan. No sleep the past couple of days plus two very active intimate hours with Lance...He’s too tired for this shit. Why is his communicator even going off?

**\--DATA DECRYPTION COMPLETE--**

“What?” Keith squints.

**\--DOWNLOADING DATA TO ARCHIVES--**

Keith’s eyes blow wide when he realizes what it is. His mother’s data chip! How could he have forgotten? He scrambles to turn the beeping off before Lance can gripe about the noise again. But he stares at the blinking progression screen with shallow breaths.

“Got it?” Lance sighs and rolls over to hide under blankets.

“Yeah,” Keith swallows.

“Come back to bed then,” Lance gestures over his shoulder.

“Bathroom first, since I’m up,” Keith tells him and shimmies over into the room, closing the door behind him.

It’s finished.

He sits on the floor against the wall and begins scanning through the data. So many files. Small ones. Large ones. Most of them in symbols and letters he doesn’t recognize but as he scrolls through he finds some with English lettering.

Eventually, he finds files titled with purely English script. Desert. Desert2. Desert3. All the way up to Desert1781. When he opens them he finds pictures, some familiar others not. Some of landscapes, others of the night sky. Some of animals or plants with notes written in English.

_\--Robust spine beehive cactus. Coryphantha robustispina. (Notes: Small. Compact. Long tubercles. Thick spines. Yellow flowers during spring and early fall. First I’ve seen. It’s cute and prickly.)--_

Nearly all the plant and animal pictures have similar notes. On size, description, seasons in which they can be seen. Then little personal comments on what it reminds them of. _Looks like a cat. Taller than me. Smells like summer._ Were these his mother’s observations of Earth?

He keeps scrolling, trying to find something other than pictures of plants from a place he’s already intimately familiar with. Looking for titles that don’t describe the sky or cactuses until his eyes fall on one, making his finger shakingly hover over the screen.

**DearKeith.doc**

It’s suddenly hard to breath and he has to force himself to cough to remember to do so. Why does he feel panicked? Scared? It’s just something for him from his mom. A letter? Should he open it? He licks his lips nervously. No time like the present.  With a tap, it pulls up.

_Dear Keith,_

_You’re 18 now and your dad tells me that that makes you an adult on Earth. You’d be an adult much sooner back home but we’re doing this his way. You deserve to know who I was...Was, because if you’re reading this I’m gone._

Keith swallows, his eyes already starting to water. Gone. He never knew a word could make him feel so hollow and empty. He returns to the letter a hand covering his mouth as he reads.

_I’m not from Earth Keith. I belong to a race known as the Galra and as such...so do you. How I came to Earth is...well. I’m not a very good pilot on the best of days. I much prefer our Blade fighter ships but mine was destroyed so I made do with an empire ship. It was badly damaged in my escape but I tried to take the wormhole to my next system assignment anyways. Your mother doesn’t possess of the gift of...foresight. And deliberation is never something I’ve been good at, Keith, so believe me when I say it ended badly._

_I crashed on the nearest planet capable of breathable air. Earth._

_I fully expected to bleed to death, my shoulder impaled on shredded metal. I actually laughed thinking how ironic that I would die all because I spent more time learning combat and didn’t pay closer attention when it came to piloting systems. The bleeding wouldn’t stop and I was afraid that pulling out the object would make it worse. So I closed my eyes and drifted off in the freezing cold of Earth’s desert, accepting my fate._

_The first thing I saw when I woke up was your father._

Keith can just see his father looking out into the night sky to see what he thought was a shooting star. That is until he felt the shake of the ground as it crashed. Thinking it was a downed fighter plane, he likely ran with his kit to investigate. He wonders what his father thought seeing an alien before him, laughing as she bled out.

_He found me on the brink of death and brought me to his home. Treated my wounds without asking for a thing in return. He had prying questions, I could tell. Admitted to me that he’d never seen anyone like me before which brought me more relief than I expected. If he’d never seen a Galra then this quadrant was still yet safe. I was safe._

_I told him of my mission despite its secret nature and he believed me. Why wouldn’t he? An alien crash landed on his planet! He said he would help me any way he could, even brought me what little materials he could to repair my ship. Allowed me to stay in his home for as long as I wished. So compassionate your father. And I don’t mind saying, handsome too._

Keith smiles, thinking of their first meeting. Were there cultural misunderstandings? Did she try to smell him before she ever kissed him? Or did his Dad make the first move? A shame he didn’t know either of them well enough to guess.

_Three years later it was repaired. Well, as repaired as it could get. At least, it would be capable of getting me a few system’s over for a new ship. Then I could continue my search of this system. Maybe even visit again when it was all done._

_But when it was time to leave I felt...I can’t explain it well Keith. Everything hurt. Like I’d opened century-old wounds. Like I’d punctured my lungs. I struggled to breathe, my spirit being crushed more and more the further I traveled from the Earth. I found the love of my life in the human who saved me and it was killing me to be far from him._

_I could not stay away from Earth. Not anymore. It was my home now. I made it as far as the nearest swap satellite for supplies before I returned, my heart aching for him. I knew then that only he could complete me. Without him, I’d deteriorate, eaten away by misery, dying the slowest of painful deaths._

_I can only hope you meet someone that makes you feel the same way._

She rushed back to Earth and into his father’s arms. God damn, this romantic crap. Keith takes a deep shaky sigh and looks up at the ceiling, trying to stifle his tears. If he’s not careful Lance is going to hear him. After a calming breath, he returns to the letter.

_Two years later I gave birth to a boy. You. My Keith._

_You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen...but I was struck with a sudden fear. I wanted you to have a normal life, one untainted by my mission or my blood. I injected you with suppressors I synthesized myself. To hide you. To keep you safe. I promised myself you would never need know any struggle, that you would grow happy and unburdened by your heritage unlike me. You could stay human and never know._

_But that was stupid. You are Galra as much as you are human and you can’t outrun the truth forever. The Earth won’t always be safe. War will come here, no matter what measures I take to protect you from it. Your father and I argued about it, often. He said I had no right to determine your destiny. That it should be your choice on whether or not you wished to join the fight. And damn if he isn’t right, that smug handsome bastard._

_I did all I could to prevent you from becoming_ **_me_ ** _, but I cannot stop you from being_ **_you_ ** _, Keith._

Keith stops and wipes his face, wet with tears. It almost feels like she’s there talking to him. Her arms holding him close and combing her fingers through his hair to reassure him. Petting him gently and whispering comforting words into his ears. All the things he needs to hear.

_I cannot survive much longer. My body grows weaker on Earth as my supply of nutrient pills runs out. Earth doesn’t have what I need to live. I need to make a trip to the swap satellite again but I don’t think I’ll make it there, let alone back. I don’t want to leave, I’d rather die in your father’s arms than go where he can’t follow but he won’t hear it. He’s begging me to go with tears in his eyes._

_He doesn’t want me to die but I don’t want to leave him or you._

_I’m leaving the only belonging I have--_

He has to put it down. God, he didn’t know this was a last will and testament. These are his mother’s last words. She was dying and this is what she left him. Keith covers his mouth to muffle a whimpering sob. He doesn’t want to read this...but she wrote it for him. It’s the last thing she could give him. He swallows down a sob and reads.

_I’m leaving the only belonging I have with your father in case I don’t make it back. It’s a knife that belongs to my order and as such, it’s mine to bestow on whom I choose. I want you to have it, Keith, when you’re old enough. It is your birthright should you choose to follow in my bloody footsteps._

_I’d rather you cast it into a bottomless pit or into the ocean, as it is my deepest desire even now that you never need touch a weapon, let alone mine with it’s bloody past. But maybe you won’t have to. Perhaps, the Paladins of Voltron will rise again and they’ll end Zarkon’s reign of terror before he reaches your planet, before he can hurt you. Before you have to sully your innocent hands with the blood of your own people._

_But perhaps there is still yet time. I may even make it back before your first words. And I’ll have the chance to watch you walk, talk, and grow, and learn. I’ll watch as you fall in love and have children of your own. Oh, wouldn’t that be amazing?_

Keith nods even though there’s no one to nod to, curling his legs in close to his face and pressing his wet cheeks to his bare knees.

_I have so many regrets Keith. I’ve killed so many people. Guilty and innocent. Destroyed so many lives and families in the name of justice and vengeance. Made decisions that have gotten my comrades killed. Abandoned my duty to pursue selfish endeavors. My hands are covered with so much blood, they should be stained crimson red instead of violet. I deserve not a single blessing and yet the universe gave me so much despite my sins--_

_For five years I had the truest and most passionate of love from a man who knew every one of my faults and crimes but found me beautiful regardless. For six months I was given the privilege of watching over my beautiful boy in the total safety denied to the rest of the universe. Every single day I bathed in the warmth of the desert sun and every single night I slept held lovingly in my husband’s arms with your crib within arms reach._

_I rocked you to sleep when you cried, petting your little head until I calmed your fears when I could not calm my own. I selfishly danced to the radio with you in my arms, never thinking of the suffering of others and glad for your happiness only. Stargazed with you, talking of our homeland before you could even understand that it was all gone, burned to the ground._

_I abandoned my duty and my order but I will never regret that. Because even after all my misdeeds, I found a new mission. A new reason to live._

_It was you, Keith. I love you. I will always love you my little one._

_I can’t tell you your destiny, your life is yours to choose. Just know that whatever you choose, I will always be with you my Keith. Take care of your father for me, he’ll need you. I’ll be ever watching over you from the stars._

_\--Ghaythra Kogane_

Keith sobs quietly, grabbing a towel from the floor and pushing it to his face to stifle his hiccups.

God why did he do this? Now’s the worst time to be emotional with a big mission on the horizon. He should have just left it to wait until later. Should have just left the damn chip in the weapon. Now he’s a shaking wreck, his body wracked with sobs as he cries into his towel.

He doesn’t know why he does it but he reads it again. Trying to imagine her voice. Her face. But it only results in him crying again halfway through, his face buried into a soaking wet cloth. He scans through the data, opening picture files despite knowing they’re all of trees, animals, and rock formations. Things she studied for fun while marooned there.

**Flex.jpg**

With a tap, he opens the picture. It reveals a picture of himself from the waist up. Or he thought it was himself for a split second. Her hair is a little longer and wild about her shoulders. She’s taller too and well muscled. Doing her best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression as she beams brightly at the camera.

“Mom,” he rasps and touches the screen.

He really does look like her. It’s a little scary. If he only compared their faces he wouldn’t find much difference between them with the exception of a number of scars on her chin and cheek. From what the tank she’s wearing shows, she’s littered with scars and old battle wounds.

“You were scrappy, huh,” Keith smiles and checks the notes.

 _\--four months after crash landing. Looking good as new. New clothing for the heat here. My uniform is far too warm for this planet. I like the clothes here. Soft, comfortable, and smell just like him. Think he’ll let me keep it? Maybe I should do something for him to, you know,_ **_thank_ ** _him?--_

Keith huffs a little laugh. Four months and his mom was already sweet on him. He sniffles and takes in her appearance again.

No wonder Kolivan and the others look at him like he’s someone else. He may as well be her without breasts. Eyes are the same. Ears a little bigger than his. Those wild curls. He fingers his hair with a sigh. It’s even the same color, deep black with a tint of purple. Shame they can’t dye it. He doubts Coran has anything like that on the ship but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

Sleep’s not going to come to him. Not now, with all he’s read. There’s still so much more, including large files he can only assume are video files. He almost clicks one but shakes his head. Now’s not a good time for even more crying, so he forces himself to turn it off for now.

He stands from the floor with a huff. Sniffs and blows his nose to clear it. A look in the mirror tells him there’s nothing he can do to hide that he’s been crying except maybe use his bangs as a shield. He brushes the hair into place and shrugs. Sufficient.

Then his stomach lets out a loud growl on top of everything else.

When he leaves the bathroom he throws on his pants and a shirt. Then shoulders into a jacket while crossing the room to lean down and give Lance a peck on the cheek. He rolls and hums but doesn’t wake, not fully.

“Going to get a snack,” Keith tells him.

Lance nods and settles back in as Keith walks out into the Hall.

He expected it to be quieter as he shuffles down the corridors but there are plenty up and about. In the common room, Pidge is sleeping on the couch as the two Blades play her video game. Hunk sits across the way, giving them pointers on how to fight the boss. Keith just nods in their direction and goes about his walk.

Maybe he should check in on Shiro. It’s been so long since they talked and he’s always happy to listen to Keith about important stuff. And all this is definitely important. But he finds their leader’s room empty and takes that to mean he’s wandering around too.

He’ll run into him eventually.

Two initiates walk down the hall and hush their conversation as Keith passes, giggling as they walk by. He catches something about 'did you hear?' ‘No, but look at his clothes’ and ‘guess it is true’. It only hits him when he looks into a reflective surface. He’s wearing Lance’s shirt and jacket.

He flushes and raises the hood to hide his face, even zips it for good measure as he continues his way to the kitchen, hands in his pockets. A door opens as he passes and Allura catches sight of him as he goes by.

“Lance? Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” Allura raises a brow. “After all that whining you did to get the same off-time as Keith--”

Keith turns and raises a brow.

“Oh, Keith. I thought, well, nevermind,” Allura shakes her head but then goes stern. “Actually, no. Not nevermind. You’re supposed to be getting some rest as well. Why are you still awake?”

She’s been speaking to him more and more since the Blades came onto the ship. Actually, she’s been getting better in all her interactions with the Galra on the ship, though sometimes her patience is tested with the younger ones who don’t like to listen. It’s nice to not be on the receiving end of her glares anymore.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Keith huffs and looks behind her. “Where’s Shiro?”

He’s always with Allura when she’s awake. For him to not be right next to her is odd. He’s not in his room so he’s got to be around here somewhere trailing after her.

“I sent him to get some well deserved rest. He hasn’t slept in three days, no way for the leader of Voltron to behave,” Allura tells him. “Did you need to discuss something with him?”

He must be crashing in Allura’s quarters if he’s not sleeping in his own.

“No, I guess it can wait,” Keith shakes his head, drooping the hood off. His ears flick and twitch trying to get itchy long hairs off.

That’s when an idea strikes him, a sudden memory of something Shiro said.

“You cut Shiro’s hair, right?”

“Well, yes. I have, on occasion,” Allura flushes. “Why is it you ask?”

*****

“I have reservations about this Keith,” Allura announces before starting. “Lance will not be pleased.”

Keith sits on the chair, a towel clipped around his neck. Allura holds her electric trimmers in one hand and a little pair of scissors in the other. This is the third time she’s said she’s not sure she wants to do this, her worry stemming from what she imagine’s Lance’s reaction will be.

And he’s getting sick of her stalling.

“It’s not his hair, so if Lance doesn’t like it he can suck my--”

“Keith,” Allura frowns, pink on her cheeks. “He adores your hair, speaks of it at length. Are you certain you don’t just want a little trim? The way it looked when you first arrived? ”

“No, it’s time for a change,” Keith takes a deep breath. “Just do what you think will look good.”

“You trust _me_ to choose a style for you?”

“Yes,” he says emphatically to end all discussion and hurry along with the cut before he can change his mind.

Allura lets out a resigned sigh, knowing a losing battle when she sees one. If Keith wants to cut his hair, she’s not going to change his mind. She rolls up her sleeves and takes a step forward to get started.

*****

Lance wakes patting the bed for Keith’s warmth. Not back yet. He checks his watch and bolts out of bed. It’s been an hour, no snack takes an hour to get. For a second he thinks Keith’s left without telling him again for some stupid reason.

He hurriedly pulls on his pants but he can’t find his shirt. His jacket. They’re both gone. But Keith’s shirt and jacket are still there. And so is his armor. Suddenly he’s not so worried. Keith wouldn’t leave stark naked.

Still, he should have been back by now. He grabs Keith’s black shirt and pulls it on before leaving for the halls.

They’re pretty empty. He peeks into the common room to find Hunk and Pidge. They look at him with Cheshire smiles on their faces before Pidge leans over to Hunk to whisper something. A laugh escapes Hunk and Pidge grins even wider.

“You guys seen Keith?” Lance scans the room. The two Blades snicker to themselves as do the other two paladins. “What’s so funny?”

“He’s gonna be so mad,” she whispers but not quietly enough.

“No way, ten days of dish-duty says he’s going to swoon and someone will have to catch him,” Hunk snickers back.

“You’re on,” Pidge shakes on it.

“What are you guys talking about? You seen him or not?” Lance asks, arms crossed and losing his patience.

“Check down the hall, youngling,” one of the Blades informs him. “The initiates caught him on his way back to his room and begged for some pointers. Perhaps he’s still there.”

Lance nods his thanks and takes off, jogging at a spritely pace. It’s weird how the others were acting. Why would he be mad at Keith? He hasn’t done anything wrong, at least, not including not coming back to bed. They still had three vargas off the clock for sleep, for pete’s sake.

He turns a corner and crashes directly into Allura. They almost knock each other down but their hands brace the wall to save them.

“Lance!” she exclaims. “How-How are you this evening? Day? Is it day? I’ve forgotten,” she laughs nervously and looks away.

“Have you seen Keith?” Lance asks.

“Ah, I, well...I want it on record that I told him you might be displeased,” she starts and rambles on. “Even recommended a different route to take. So I am not to blame for this. Also, it’s not my fault that I only have practice in a particular style so if it’s too short for your liking--.”

“What?” Lance blinks, beyond confused.

“You’re not mad about the--well then,” Allura clears her throat and thumbs over her shoulder like Shiro would. “I think you’ll find him on the training deck with some of the young initiates. I’m...I’m going to retire to my quarters for some sleep. Excuse me.”

Lance nods, making a wary eye at Allura as he jogs past. Maybe she’s under too much stress. Might have to recommend to Shiro to give that girl a massage. Or something more substantial. Lance waggles his brows but then shakes his head, scolding himself. Now’s not the time for imagining his teammates getting it on.

He opens the door to the training deck and comes upon three Galra on the field, fighting training dummies. He recognizes all three combatants immediately as Danske, Natsuri, and Korok. But who’s the guy on the sidelines with his jacket tied around his--

Lance slaps a hand over his mouth to cover his gasp.

“Natsuri, you’re leaving yourself too open. Bring your arms in more. Danske, bend your knees,” Keith calls out to them and scratches the back of his head. “Not that much Danske. There, yes.”

He’s cut it. Cut his beautiful long hair. Now it looks...Lance blushes under his hand.

God damn, who knew Keith looked good in an undercut? And it shows off his ears too. Fucking Christ, Lance is trying his hardest not to choke on his tongue and double checks his nose to make sure it isn’t bleeding.

He takes unsteady steps forward to get a better look.

Shaved close to his scalp on the sides and back. Looks a little like Shiro’s style but...He trimmed the top only a little leaving it a couple inches long and swept to the side. The shortest bits at the front curling a little to make bangs. Keith’s a fucking punk rockstar and it’s making Lance’s heart explode.

When Lance gets close enough, Keith’s ear flicks in his direction and he turns. Upon seeing Lance, he flushes a little and rubs the back of his head, still not used to the shortness of it.

“Hey,” Keith shrugs a smile.

“Hey,” Lance’s voice cracks and he clears his throat. “You uh...It’s short.”

“Does it look bad?” Keith huffs and tussles it a little, making Lance’s heart race. “Antok says it’ll probably be back in a couple months. Apparently, my subspecies tends to grow hair quickly.”

“I like it,” Lance swallows. “Can I touch it?”

Keith raises his brow as if that’s a strange question. “Yeah, go ahead,” he nods.

Lance reaches up and rubs his palm along the buzzed hair. Feels like touching a peach with it’s fuzzy skin. He slides the hand up and into the length of hair up top. Still long enough to tangle his fingers into and pull, so that’s good.

“You got product in there?” Lance asks, his fingers touching something tacky.

“Yeah, Allura put it in for effect,” Keith shrugs. “It just sticks up a little otherwise.”

“Hmmm...like a Chocobo,” Lance muses.

“A what?”

“Nothing,” Lance smiles and sidles closer to whisper. “Looks really good.”

“Yeah?” Keith smirks back, seeing those interested eyes. Lance nods with a suggestive smile. He leans in a little, thinking of stealing a quick kiss before being reminded they are not alone.

All of a sudden there are whistles and other such noises from the field. Hooting from Natsuri and Korok as they stand on the defeated dummies. Danske says something in a language neither of them understand but it feels inappropriate in tone.

“Get it paladin!” hoots Natsuri. It’s hard to tell who she’s actually talking to.

“If you won’t kiss him, I will,” Danske shouts.

“Perhaps take it back to your quarters? Not that that will guarantee any privacy with how vocal the two of you are.”

“Shut up, all of you,” Keith huffs but smirks at them. “Get back to work.”

“And we’ll take your advice and get back to bed,” Lance winks suggestively and shoots them finger guns. It sends them into laughs and whistles again as he drags Keith away down the hall.

Keith explains that he went to get something to eat when he ran into Allura. His bangs had been getting in his way and he remembered she knew how to cut hair. So he just decided to do a full cut. Lance nods his understanding and runs a hand on the back of his head with a sigh.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s super hot,” Lance eyes him with a wink. “But why that style? Itching to be the next Shiro?”

Keith stops and eyes the hall. Alone enough. He pulls his communicator out and Lance watches over his shoulder as he scans through. He can’t read half the stuff on the screen with how quickly he’s scanning through the files. Keith taps one and it pulls open the picture of Keith’s mother flexing her muscles.

“Holy shit,” Lance gapes, taking the device in his hand to bring it closer to his face. “Is this her?”

“Yeah,” Keith nods. “I haven’t even looked at the rest of the stuff yet. There’s even videos.”

He thought it was a little strange that all the older marmorites looked at Keith like he was familiar. Like he did and didn’t belong there at the same time. He just assumed Kolivan’s claim that they were similar was just exaggeration. Christ, it’s like seeing a doppelganger. Well, it was anyway. With Keith’s hair cut short like--ah.

Now the cut makes more sense. A way to set himself apart from her. To lessen those looks of reverence. To not be seen as just Ghaythra’s child but as his own person. Lance looks up to see Keith checking his hair in the surface of a door. Tilting it to look at all the angles. There’s even a little smile on his face.

“You like the new cut?” Lance asks, handing back the device.

“Yeah,” Keith turns and takes the communicator back.

For the first time, he’s able to look himself in the mirror and think ‘this is me’ instead of ‘who are you?’. Feels good to take ownership of himself even if it is with something as simple as a haircut. Maybe he’ll let it grow back out once he’s more comfortable but for now he feels refreshed. Renewed.

“Alright, we should check out those videos sometime, but for now, back to bed,” Lance yawns. “And later...we’ll have a memorial for your hair. Rest in Peace Mullet. You were loved.”

“You always made fun of my hair,” Keith points out.

“Yeah, and I’m gonna miss doing that too,” Lance sighs.

He hooks an arm around Keith’s side and corales him back towards the bedroom. They still need to get more sleep before the big mission after all. That is, if he doesn’t insist on making out with his new rockstar boyfriend first.

They can do a lot in three vargas, after all.

 

 

ATTENTION!!  
A lovely reader by the name Mnemnems made a work of art of undercut Keith!  [CHECK IT OUT](https://mnemnems.tumblr.com/post/166274489405/i-did-a-thing-for-the-fic-call-of-the-universe)  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY! I know I said I wouldn't be updating for a while but when have I ever been entirely truthful?
> 
> What I'll do from now on is post chapters as I complete them. It'll be difficult on you guys, I know, but it's easier on me and my brain. So, if you want to know when those updates hit, BOOKMARK/SUBSCRIBE this shit.

Time for their last trip to Olkarion. Last battle preparation trip. Hopefully. If all things go well with this giant teladuv and gravity generator the only travel they’ll be doing after will be for pleasure and not work. 

The teladuv is nearly finished. The Olkari are already outfitting the giant crystal taken from the Balmera. Biggest crystal they’ve seen in generations according to everyone involved. Slav is busy making his adjustments to the gravity generator much to Coran’s dismay. In no way should a rock be used to make ‘improvements’ to a very precise machine.

When it’s all finished they all let out a collective sigh from atop the highest building. The entire team stands and looks over the completed work, coming to terms with what it all means if they succeed. 

“You realize once we defeat Zarkon, the universe won’t need Voltron anymore,” Shiro states.

“We can return to earth,” Lance comments, a little excitement his voice. 

Keith stares solemnly at the ground. Maybe they can but Keith...would there even be a place on Earth for Keith now? What would await him if he returned? Images of scientific testing on Keith for being an extraterrestrial come to mind from old horror movies. Makes him shudder. 

“I can look for my family,” says Pidge.

Family. Does Keith have family out here? Galra cousins or Uncles? A grandparent? All things he never grew up with. Things he never thought he’d want but now…

“I guess I could look for mine,” Keith adds. 

If not he could always join the Blades. Kolivan said he was always welcome with them, as a family if wanted. Even if Voltron is no longer needed, doesn’t mean Keith can’t still be a benefit to the universe. But then...where does that leave him and Lance?

Lance is looking at him with a little smile. He wishes Lance could come with him but Keith knows he wants so badly to go home, to see his family and cry in their arms. He misses them desperately. It’s only been a week or so since Lance’s last homesick cry and Keith would never be so selfish as to ask Lance to forgo home for staying in space with him.

But it wrenches his heart to think of parting for any reason.

“Reiner is throwing another banquet tonight,” Hunk says excitedly, thinking about the food. 

“Celebrating a little early isn’t she?” Pidge comments. 

Keith stoically looks to Shiro who looks just as serious. The two of them know. It’s not a celebratory dinner in the traditional sense. It’s a last supper in case they fail. Doesn’t mean they should shatter their morale with the truth.

“They know everything’s in good hands,” Shiro smiles. “Let’s go down and join them.”

“In our Paladin gear?” Lance suggests with a grin. “Everyone loves the Paladin gear.”

“Why not?” Shiro chuckles as they walk to the lift to take them down. 

The others leave while Keith lingers back, not ready to join them. Lance stays too, certain there’s something bothering Keith.

“I’m not sure I should go,” says Keith. “To the banquet.”

“Why not?”

The Olkari don’t have the best relationship with the Galra. No one does honestly. They’ll see that the red paladin of Voltron is now of the same race as those who oppressed them. Might not be the best idea to go parading around like a hero in front of them. 

“You know like, a dozen Blades will be walking around at the banquet right? You’ll hardly be the only Galra down there,” Lance tells him, sensing the issue. 

“I know,” Keith sighs. 

“And if anyone so much as says one unkind word to you the entire team will jump down their throat,” Lance adds. “I’m a lover, not a fighter so I’ll be the one dragging you off from beating some bigot while cheering you on in my head.”

Keith snorts and laughs a little at that. 

“There is that,” Keith nods with a smirk.

“Come on,” Lance says, hooking an arm around his shoulder and giving him a peck on the cheek. 

*****

Feels and looks just like the last party except it couldn’t be more different. Before he had more than a few Olkari come up to him and ask questions about being a paladin. They wanted to shake his hand and thank him for all the work he was doing. It was a pain but still enjoyable.

Now he can’t even get a single Olkari to look at him let alone speak to him. They all keep their eyes low when they come near or they whisper from across the room. No one approaches and no one talks to him. Most actively avoid him. It’s disconcerting but what he’s come to expect so he just drinks his cup of sweet punch in silence.

Allura finally passes by with Reiner, who wants to make the rounds to thank each of the paladins individually. 

“Are you...the new paladin of the red lion?” she asks tentatively, not recognizing him. 

“No I’m...It’s still me,” Keith answers and a little recognition comes over her face at his voice.

“Keith, I could hardly tell it was you,” she admits, still slightly confused. “How did…?”

“It's a long story,” Allura tells her. “To make it short, he’s half Galra and still very much our paladin and friend.”

This makes Keith smile a little. If Allura, an Altean with a long history of conflict with the Galra, can refer to him as a friend then things aren’t as bad as he thinks. He nods and clinks his drink with Reiner’s.

“Glad you could attend, Keith,” Reiner tells him with a smile.

“Uh, well. Glad to be here,” Keith tells her and looks around at the judgemental stares he’s accumulating. “Even if not everyone is happy to see me.”

“I’ll have a talk with them, but change is gradual. It will take some time for the others to adjust,” she says. “Please, enjoy yourself. And if anyone gives you any grief, direct them to me.”

“Will do,” he says but he doesn’t anticipate any trouble. They’re all too scared to get close anyway.

They take their leave to meet with the others, leaving Keith alone with his drink. He wonders if it’s supposed to be alcoholic at all. He tastes nothing but the other’s have slight tints to their cheeks. Even Shiro, who can hold his own fairly well has a slight flush to his cheeks. 

He scans the room, keeping an eye on everyone but paying particular close attention to his partner.

Lance is chatting away with a bunch of Olkari. Making them laugh and patting their shoulders. Always the social butterfly. He puts his drink down and attempts to teach a little Olkari child how to do the steps to a dance. It’s cute and before he knows it she’s got it down with others joining in.

“You  _ are  _ smitten aren’t you?” asks a familiar voice behind him.

“Danske,” Keith raises a brow. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the ship?”

“I begged for guard duty at the party! How could I not? Look at all these cute Olkari!” she beams her catlike grin. 

“They think you’re terrifying,” Keith frowns. “Think we’re all monsters.”

“Maybe one day they’ll change their mind,” she shrugs, indifferent to the fearful stares at her gleaming teeth. “You didn’t answer my question, Kee-ith.”

“You know the answer,” Keith tells her. 

“How long have you been courting? Can’t be long...neither of you are wearing tokens,” she wonders and then grins suggestively. “Maybe I still have a chance.”

“Tokens?” Keith raises a brow again.

“Oh. Oh!” Danske smacks a hand to her head in realizing her mistake. “I never fail to forget. You know nothing of your culture or social norms. Practically an earthling yourself.”

She explains that most Galra know within a small time if a relationship will amount to something. If it’s just a simple dalliance they’ll part and neither party will begrudge the other for splitting. Ones that last a while have more potential. Danske tells him a timeline for such a thing and he has to work out what he knows about alien time conversion to figure Earth time. 

Anything after three months has serious courting potential according to her. Keith can’t remember the last time anything he had on Earth lasted more than a month. He’d always get bored or be put off by declarations of love that he couldn’t in good conscience return. Danske says that’s pretty normal, especially for young Galra experimenting with others.

“So...how long’s it been with Lance?” she pries yet again. 

He works it out and blinks with surprise. Has it really been six months since they started messing around? Feels like they’ve been together longer than that.

“Longer than I’ve been with anyone,” Keith reveals, his eyes soft on Lance as the blue paladin gets outdanced by a child. 

“Do you love him? How badly?” she asks with a happy smile.

Lance is everything he needs and wants, even before he knew he needed or wanted it. Someone to comfort when they’re lonely and to comfort him when he’s scared. Someone who enjoys the things he enjoys inside and outside of the bedroom. Someone he can be himself with and adores him for who he is and not what he can provide. 

Lance has it all. Playful prodding. Kind and inspirational words. Sweet kisses. Jokes to bring a smile to his sullen face. Laughter to bring light into his dreary life. A perfect warmth to Keith’s cool demeanor, balancing each other out. Like they were meant to find each other across the cosmos no matter what.

Is there anyone else, in the entire universe, that can complete him like Lance?

Keith feels Lance in his heart, like he’s been staked there. No way to remove him without bleeding out and nothing could take his place to stem the tide of blood if someone tore him away. He’d  _ kill  _ for Lance, maybe even  _ die  _ for him but more than that...he wants to  _ live  _ for Lance.

Is this what his mom meant? A feeling that can’t be filled by anyone except that one person?

“I think...my heart would stop if anything happened to him,” Keith admits and bites his lips inward in mortified shock. He hadn’t meant to say such a thing aloud and he glares at the drink as if it's to blame. 

“Oh, Kee-ith! Oh, my stars!” Danske giggles and swishes her tail. “The two of you are soul touched, I just know it. I’m jealous!”

Keith flushes and puts down his cup, determined not to drink another drop. That was far more open than he ever intended to be with someone he hardly knows. He’s embarrassed beyond all reason but Danske looks absolutely floored at his utterance. Practically vibrating with glee.

“What’s this about a token?” Keith huffs. “It's a gift or something?”

Her golden eyes gleam with excitement as she jumps up and down, her tail swinging sideways and nearly knocking the drinks from a tray. Before she can tell him an older Blade pulls her back to her post, berating her for leaving it. She pouts but promises to come back as soon as she can. 

With her gone a lot less Olkari glance his way, probably suspecting the two of them of collusion of some sort. Now they just ignore him again. 

“Making friends, Keith?” Shiro asks as a hand falls on his shoulder.

“Not really,” Keith sighs. “You?”

“More than a few Olkari have been refilling my drink all night,” Shiro chuckles. “According to Reiner it’s a sign of camaraderie. Don’t think I’ve seen the bottom of my cup yet.”

It’s nice seeing Shiro relaxed and smiling with intoxication on his cheeks. He looks across the hall to see Allura bowing to a group of Olkari with Reiner. They keep trying to fill her glass but she’s doing her best to politely decline with a smile. She’s had more than enough as it is.

“I hope…” Shiro stops himself and shakes his head. “Things will be fine. We’ll win.”

“If there’s something you want to say to her now’s the time Shiro,” Keith nods at her. “Weren’t you the one who told me not to wait? Or I’d regret it?”

“I know,” Shiro says, looking into his cup with a smile. “Did you end up saying it?”

Keith nods turning a plum purple. 

“Wasn’t so bad was it?” Shiro laughs. “You should go dance with him. While he’s still sober enough to stand.”

What with all these eyes on him? Normally he wouldn’t care if people stared. Hell, he’d kiss him right in front of the entire team and not give a damn. But he doesn’t want the Olkari looking at Lance the way they look at him. It’s better to keep their scorn centered on him than anyone else.

But their fearless leader isn’t having any of that. Shiro gives him an encouraging shove in Lance’s general direction, giving him a ‘get him tiger’ stare as he swirls the liquid in his glass. Keith sighs, defeated, and crosses the room. He can go watch them dance he supposes.

Olkari go out of their way to avoid him. He doesn’t even have to say excuse me more than once and the crowd practically parts like a sea. One of the Olkari even squeaks in barely contained panic when he almost touches Keith. He tries to not let it get to him, just nods and puts on a clearly fake smile as he joins the little group of dancers surrounding Lance.

“You’re doing great! That’s awesome!” Lance laughs, his face flushed with drink.

Keith relaxes and a real smile replaces his uncomfortable one. Lance can have a good time anywhere and it puts him at ease. 

“Oh hey, perfect timing!” Lance points at Keith and gestures him over. “Come here, come here.”

“Just wanted to watch,” Keith waves his hands in front of him. He tells himself to not let Lance actually drag him into a dance of any kind but already the blue paladin has his hands.

“No way, I promised you’d learn!” Lance exclaims. “These Olkari are great but they’re arms aren’t made for a human partner.”

“Lance, I can’t dance,” Keith reminds him. 

Lance doesn’t hear him just pulls him to the open space and starts positioning them to begin, starting with facing each other. He puts Keith’s right hand on his waist to start. Then puts his left hand on Keith’s shoulder. Lance’s right hand in Keith’s left.

“Alright, I can do the ladies steps or the guys, since I’ve taught all of my cousins to dance,” Lance tells him. “But for now I’ll do ladies steps. Easier for you. Keep your arm firm and your back straight, if you can, wink wink.”

Keith snorts at Lance’s joke. 

“Okay, but serious now. I’ll take a right step back and you’ll take a...left step forward. You’ll shift your weight a little, like this, but then return to start. Got it?” Lance instructs.

“I think so,” Keith nods.

Lance takes his step backward and Keith steps forward simultaneously. They shift the weight to their other foot and step back to where they started. Lance hums with approval.

“Great! Now, do that again but this time right afterwards we’ll add a step. I’ll take a left step forward and you’ll take a right step back,” Lance tells him. “Make sense?”

“Uh repeat?”

“You, left step forward. Shift weight. Return to start. Right step back. Shift weight. Return to start again,” Lance lists off fairly well, despite the haze in his eyes from drinking. “And go.”

Lance counts the steps for them as they go. One, two, three. Five, six, seven. Keith’s surprised how easy it is. Reminds him of the training sets he does sometimes. Lance tells him since Keith’s technically supposed to lead that he should press a little more with his hand. That and use the hand on Lance’s hip to guide him in the direction he wants to go.

“Stop looking at your feet. You can do it,” Lance assures him. “Let’s try doing it a couple of times in a row. Then I’ll teach you to spin me.”

“What?” Keith blanches, clearly not ready to do anything of the sort.

“Or I could spin you? Since I’ll probably throw up if you spin me,” Lance snickers. 

“How about no spinning? For everyone’s sake,” Keith suggests. 

“Deal,” Lance agrees. “Just do the steps with me.”

They dance again as the Olkari watch and take notes. Some even try to mimic them a little with marginal success. Lance keeps track of the steps by counting and others follow along. He gets quieter and quieter until Keith no longer needs the count to keep tempo. He’s even starting to lead a little, making Lance break out into an excited smile. 

“Hey ,hey! You’re not bad!” Lance compliments. “A little more practice and you’ll be ready for Salsa Saturdays.”

“You’re just saying that,” Keith shakes his head. 

“I’d be happy to give you some private lessons. Just you and me,” Lance leans in with a suggestive grin and Keith snorts. 

Lance is a little drunk but Keith can’t say he minds it. Brings out the flirt in him even more. The dozen Olkari surrounding them whisper to each other and draw conclusions of their own. 

Oh my! The human just propositioned the Galra on his team. How shocking! Doesn’t he know that he’s Galra? Boy, if they only knew the things the two of them get up to. 

“They think it’s weird that you’re flirting with me,” Keith whispers with a smirk. 

“Oh yeah? What’ll they think if I do this?” Lance asks. 

He haphazardly spins Keith, a hand wound around his back with the other cradling his head and leaning forward. Keith clutches tight thinking Lance is about to drop him but instead he dips him dramatically making the onlookers gasp. Keith’s eyes blow wide, honestly shocked that he didn’t hit the ground. 

“And for the grand finale,” Lance mumbles, eying Keith’s lips. “What if I kiss the hottest paladin in the room?”

“How will you manage to kiss yourself?” Keith jokes.

Lance blushes, caught off guard. He then bursts into laughter, almost dropping Keith. Keith can’t help but smile, his little white fangs flashing. 

“You out-flirted me,” Lance snickers. 

“The hunter becomes--”

Lance leans down catching Keith’s lips with his own, stilling the words in this throat. Who cares who’s watching? They could die tomorrow, all of them, and no one’s going to sit around talking about the human who kissed his Galra teammate in the middle of a crowded banquet hall. Lance releases his lips after stealing a long heady kiss.

Lance is about to kiss him again when he realizes they have a much larger audience than they started with, all staring dumbfounded at the display they’ve made of themselves. He clears his throat and pulls Keith back up to his feet, with a chuckle.

“And that’s a dip,” Lance comments. “Probably shouldn’t try those if you’re a beginner. Or if you’re drunk. It’s uh, it’s easy to drop your partner if you’re not practiced.” 

Keith pretends not to care about the stares but his heart thunders under their stunned gaze. 

“Oh look, over there. The Black Paladin and Princess Allura are dancing, isn’t that nice?” Lance points and grabs Keith’s hand while they all look, dragging him off to a different section of the hall.

Before they know it they’re surrounded by different eyes that didn’t see their dance or kiss. The nearby Olkari nod at Lance as he waves at them but they pointedly ignore Keith. That’s fine with him. It’s not like he came to make friends anyway. 

“So uh,” Lance nudges him. “Sorry. Normally, I’d never just...kiss you in front of dozens of people. Especially, not without talking to you about it.”

“It’s fine,” Keith smirks. Lance takes a sip from an offered cup and rests his arm on Keith’s shoulder with a sigh.

“I just...I see the way they look at you and it...pisses me off a little,” Lance frowns. “Like you don’t belong here. It’s wrong. And I can’t fight them or yell at them. Don’t have it in me.”

But if he kissed Keith in front of them all. Then maybe they’d see that he’s no different from them. He’s just as ‘human’, so to speak, as anyone else. That he’s not some undesirable monster. Maybe it was naive to think they’d see him the way Lance sees him. 

“Thought maybe that look would change if the saw how much I cared,” Lance shrugs.

“It did change. From hate to shocked disgust,” Keith says sarcastically and ruffles his hair. “Thanks but I don’t need everyone to like me. You’re enough.”

Lance puts hand on his heart dramatically and ‘awws’. Keith gives him a shove and rolls his eyes with a smile making them both laugh a little. The two of them just people watch for a while while snacking and drinking. 

Hunk is at the buffet table, sampling all the plates and taking notes. He asks the head chef for pointers and information which he continues to file away in a datapad. Pidge is still the life of the party here on Olkarion. Everyone wants to talk to her, probably because she’s the only one aside from Hunk that understands their tech-talk. 

Shiro and Allura continue to dance something akin to a waltz. It’s beautiful the elegance with which they sweep the floor. A knight and a princess. Keith blinks, fascinated at the sight. He never knew that Shiro even knew how to dance but then...maybe Allura taught him?

“They’re cute,” says a voice behind them. They turn, surprised to find anyone talking to them.

“Natsuri, you’re here too,” Lance smiles and gives her a pat on the shoulder. “I thought I saw Danske earlier.”

“Yes, she’s in trouble for abandoning her post,” Natsuri smiles. “I told on her.”

Lance chuckles and hands her a cup from an Olkari tray. She takes it with thanks and chugs the whole thing down in one gulp. Keith and Lance stare, both equally impressed when she tips the empty cup over and puts it back on the tray.

“Danske said you wished to know more about Galra culture and societal norms?” Natsuri turns to Keith and he freezes. “On the subject of tokens, correct?”

“Ah uh, no, that’s--” Keith tries to change the subject. He doesn’t want to talk about this with Lance standing right here. He’ll get the wrong idea.

“Sounds fun, ” Lance shrugs and drinks from his cup. “What are tokens?”

Oh no. Too late. 

“Milestones to progression of relationships,” she says looking for another cup full of the same beverage. Lance hands her one and she chugs it down with another thanks. “Items given at stages with incremental importance to signify a partner’s interest in moving forward.”

“That doesn’t sound that different from Earth,” Lance pipes up. “Like giving a girl your school jacket after you date for a couple weeks but then like a promise ring if it’s been a while.”

“In the early stages most do necklaces, rings or other matching jewelry,” she informs them. 

“Cute,” Lance nods. “And later?”

“My mothers crafted and exchanged swords made of dimetherium as their final gifts,” she smiles. “I’m told it was very romantic.”

“Sweet,” Lance nods, despite having no clue what dimetherium is.

“Others might do identical brands or markings,” she adds.

“Oh like matching tattoos,” Lance points. “My uncle did that. Twice. Ha, irony.”

“Was that all you wanted to know? Or were you interested in the specific connotations to the tokens?” she asks, drinking down a fourth cup and just barely showing signs of ill effects. Keith doesn’t answer, only a look of discomfort on his face, as if he wants to leave.

“This is really cool and all but why are we talking about what sounds like Galra engagement gifts?” Lance asks, thinking he missed something.

“Because Kee-ith expressed an interest in them?” Natsuri answers with a raised brow. 

There’s quiet between the three of them as Keith turns purple. Well, darker purple. He covers his face and rubs the bridge of his nose, trying to conceal the flush on his cheeks.

“He what?” 

“Oh. I am now seeing that you did not wish to have this conversation with Lance here,” she finally concludes with delayed understanding. “My apologies, Kee-ith.”

“Excuse me, I need a drink,” Keith mumbles as he takes off for the other side of the room, closer to the food and away from the awkwardness. Thankfully Lance is too stunned to follow.

Long strides get him over there in a manner of seconds. The Olkari give him plenty of room in no small part to the displeased frown on his face. He scoops a cupful of punch. Then another. Maybe if he drinks enough he’ll pass out and he can die tomorrow having forgotten that entire interaction.

He was only curious about his culture. Jesus, he hopes Lance doesn’t think he’s ready for something like  _ that _ . Keith has never considered, in all of his life, getting down on one knee to propose to ANYONE. The last thing he bought for a romantic partner to wear was fucking condoms and that doesn’t exactly scream ‘lifetime commitment’. 

Fuck, nothing can salvage this horrible evening.

“You’re Keith, right? The Red Paladin?” asks a small voice to his side. 

God, what now?

Keith looks around then down to find a young Olkari...girl? Honestly, he has trouble telling and it’s not because of the drink. They all look the same with no indicators of different sexes. He nods and she hugs a datapad to her chest. 

“You’re my favorite paladin!” she smiles and shows a little clip on her screen. It’s the red lion flying around and firing red-hot lasers. 

He never thought anyone other than Lance would be a fan of his. Brings a little smile to his otherwise tired face.

“Why me?”

“You’re so fast! Whoosh! Whoosh!” she giggles.  “Will you take a picture with me? I got one with everyone else already! Look!” 

She stands closer and scrolls through them. On Hunk’s shoulders with food in their mouths. Wearing Pidge’s glasses as she squints. A salute from Shiro that she returns. Lance winking with a debonair smile, the both of them doing finger guns. She even has one of Allura hugging her close and a shot of Coran pulling on his mustache as she mimics him. 

“You sure your parents are going to be okay with you taking a picture with a Galra?” Keith worries, looking around for adults searching for a child. No one shows up to snatch her away in abject fear so he looks back.

“Please! I need all five to form Voltron!” she begs. 

How can he say no?

“Uh, well sure then,” Keith shrugs. “What do you want me to do?”

“Hold on!” she gestures and rummages through her bag. She pulls out her makeshift bayard, wooden and painted red. “Back to back with me fellow warrior!”

Keith snorts and agrees. She sets up the datapad, hitting a few buttons to make it float in the air. They take a few steps back as other Olkari watch with interest. Keith goes to his knees so they are the same height, and press their backs together for the pose. Like they’re about to fight enemies on two fronts. 

“Say Voltron!” she laughs.

“Voltron,” he smiles and the device flashes.

She giggles and runs back to the datapad to look at the picture. The girl seems so genuinely pleased as she jumps up and down with excitement. She takes the device and shoves it in her bag before running over and embracing him with her weapon in hand. He sees the other Olkari stare, some with trepidation but mostly with morbid curiosity.

At least they’re not glaring. He returns the hug and pats her little head.

“One day, I’m gonna be the pilot of the red lion,” she assures him. 

“I’ll be sure to retire when you’re old enough,” Keith nods as she releases him from her tiny hug. “Be sure to practice.”

“I will!” she promises and runs off with her weapon brandished. “I am the red paladin of Voltron! Whoosh!”

The surrounding Olkari’s glares soften and two even smile as they whisper about him. One approaches him and thanks him for his service. The other shakes his hand, tentatively and hesitant but it’s better than ignoring him. As he walks towards the exit he even gets some well wishes. 

Guess tonight wasn’t a total loss. 

He sees Kolivan among the crowd, standing with his right hand, as stone-faced as he usually is. Most of the hall pretends they aren’t there but neither of them shows signs of caring. Keith crosses the way to join them, if for no other reason than to tell them look less intimidating.

“If you keep glaring like that, no one will trust you,” Keith comments. 

“I do not need their trust, just their aid,” Kolivan responds. “But if it will make them more willing to support the Blades efforts then I will make an attempt at ‘cordiality’.

The frown softens but only just and his brow isn’t such a hard line. It’s an improvement but not by much. Antok still wears his mask, obscuring his features and removing any need for him to look nicer. Not that he’d take Keith’s advice anyway, might even sour up his face more just to spite him.

“What will you do once Zarkon is defeated?” Keith asks, curious. “Er, if he is defeated.”

“We will make efforts to free other systems from the oppressive hands of his lesser generals until the hold Zarkon’s empire has completely unravels,” Kolivan answers. “It will likely take decades to fully accomplish but it is our duty to the universe to make up for the mistakes of our people. To take their scorn and distrust in spite of our ancestry so as to right the wrongs unleashed by Zarkon.”

“Sounds like a lot of thankless work,” Keith nods. 

“We do not do it for thanks,” Antok says with a huff. “We do it because it is just and right that we do so.”

He wonders if that’s something his mother would do. Help restore the worlds Zarkon tainted with his vision of universal domination. Maybe before settling on Earth she would’ve relished the chance to hunt down Zarkon’s cohorts. To slaughter them. 

But things changed for her after Earth. After Keith. She wanted nothing to do with the Blades and their bloody legacy. So where does that leave Keith? Should he join them after the battle? Become a Blade officially?

“I want to help,” Keith says finally. “After Zarkon is through. I want to help fix it all.”

“Hmm,” Kolivan hums. “You are not the first to offer your assistance in that endeavor.”

Kolivan gestures to the people gathered in a group far off. It’s all of team Voltron, minus Keith. They’re all saying their thank yous and good nights to the Olkari.

“Your team, all of them, has expressed a desire to assist the Blades in our efforts,” Kolivan reveals. 

But they all want to go home so badly. Surely they’d all rather return to Earth. Hunk and Lance both have family waiting. Pidge will want to return after finding her brother and father. Shiro...he’d probably want to go home but to what? Maybe he’d stay out here with Allura. 

“All of them?” Keith blinks in surprise. 

“Yes, one even asked if after a brief respite he could join the Blades as well,” Kolivan tells him. “We’ve never had someone who wasn’t at least half-galra wish to enlist with us. It was...amusing, his reasons. The Blades have something that can’t be found on Earth it seems.”

Keith doesn’t even have to ask who. It was Lance. He knows it in his gut. The only thing Earth won’t have is Keith because he doesn’t intend on returning. 

“When did he ask?”

“Early this evening before he could besot himself with drink,” Kolivan reveals. “I will consider it but the trials will be impossible for him. A human cannot activate a Marmoran blade.”

He would have to find some other means of proving himself. A test or a mission to show his loyalty and skill to the Blades. Kolivan mentions that he has something in mind but it will have to wait until they can afford to divide their forces. After Zarkon is handled. 

Coran waves at Keith and gestures him to come join them in giving their thanks. He excuses himself with a polite nod to the both of them and joins the others. More than a few Olkari shake his hand, most out of courtesy and because they see their leader do so. He stands next to Lance who laughs and thanks each and every person that comes up to see them.

Once it’s all done and they head back to the ship for the night. Keith walks beside Lance for a while but grabs his hand and stops in the hall. His face is serious and thoughtful.

“You alright?” Lance asks, worry in his tone. “Are you still freaking out about the tokens thing? I know you were just trying to learn more about the Galra. I’m not stupid Keith.”

“You asked Kolivan about becoming a Blade,” Keith tells him and Lance lowers his eyes. 

“Yeah,” he admits. “Is that bad?”

“No, it’s--” Keith pauses and reforms his sentence. “You can do what you want but if you become a Blade...you could die on some mission star systems away from anything familiar. Is that what you want?”

“Course not,” Lance shakes his head. 

“Then why not just go home after all this?” Keith asks, his hands on Lance’s shoulders. “Forget about everything out here and just...be safe on Earth. With your family.”

Sure he’d be safe on Earth. Could go back to doing all the things he misses. Swimming at the beach. Dancing. Spending time with his family. Maybe even go back to school, finish with the Garrison’s classes. He’d be happy too, for a time. 

But then Keith’s absence would sink in. He’d turn to tell him a joke and Keith wouldn’t be there to smirk or roll his eyes at him. Sleep would become impossible. He’d lie awake thinking about Keith’s warm body pressed against his, his tell-tale scent absent from his pillow. No more kisses or caresses in the middle of the night. No more Keith.

Just cold, dark loneliness worse than any homesickness he’ll ever feel. 

“If I joined the Blades, I’d miss Earth,” Lance admits. 

“Then go home--”

“But if I went home,” Lance interrupts to finish. “I’d miss you. And that’s worse. A lot worse.”

“Lance,” Keith sighs. 

He can’t argue with that since he feels the same way. Being away from Lance...feels like a death sentence. God when did he get so dramatic? This is Lance’s fault he concludes, not that he begrudges him for it. Ultimately he can’t stop Lance, from staying or going.

“Fine. Do what you feel is best.”

“I will,” Lance finally smiles. “Besides, being a Blade can’t be that hard. They let you in and you’re a total slacker.”

Keith snorts and shakes his head. Cocky little shit. Lance hooks an arm around his shoulder with a smile and the two of them head back to their room. Time for some sleep, for tomorrow they attack Zarkon’s ship and hopefully put an end to this intergalactic war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THACE IS HERE AND HE'S FUCKING STAYING YOU GOT IT?!?!  
> (I love Thace and Ulaz...I let Ulaz die earlier for the angst BUT Thace ain't going out like that! NOT IN MY FIC!!)
> 
> Might be a while before I update again. I've become obsessed with writing this Voltron Zombie AU...It's...taking over everything.

 

Lance has never been more scared in his life and they’ve only just started the mission.

Shiro’s got Zarkon’s attention which means his ship is heading their way as they speak but Kolivan announces he hasn’t heard from his inside man for over two vargas. That’s bad. He’s dead or captured. Regardless of which, it means the mission is already compromised.

But that’s not what’s got Lance worried. 

“I’ll do it,” Keith says to the team. “I’ll sneak onto the ship. I’m Galra, I can interact with the tech if Pidge can rig up a cloaked pod to get me inside.”

It’s a suicide mission Kolivan says and Lance’s stomach tightens at the words. Keith looks serious about going. Even if Lance steps in and voices that he doesn’t like it either, Keith would still go. He’s the only one who can.

“I would never command someone so inexperienced to go on a mission so dangerous,” Kolivan states. 

Even Kolivan looks worried which doesn’t make Lance feel any better. If he looked even the least bit sure of Keith and his abilities then maybe Lance could support it too. But no, Kolivan seems certain that this is a terrible idea.

“No one’s commanding me. I’m doing it,” Keith says firmly, standing his ground.

Lance can’t say anything. He tries opening his mouth but nothing comes out. Right as he’s about to step forward Shiro comes through on the coms. The plan is settled. Keith will sneak aboard while Shiro provides cover. 

“Keith,” Lance tries but the other pats his shoulder.

“I’ll be fine,” Keith assures him. “Don’t worry. I can do this.”

“I...know you can,” Lance nods. “Just come back safe?”

“I will,” Keith nods and takes off for the pod bay. 

*****

“I’m in,” Keith says as he runs the halls with a stolen gun.

For once his shots make the hits he needs them to as he is guided through the ship’s layout. Another reason to thank Lance for that target practice. He finds the central hub and with Kolivan’s instruction, he enters the codes. His stomach sinks when nothing happens.

“It’s not working,” Keith tells him, trying to mask the slight panic in his voice.

He tries again but gets the same result. This is bad. The team is counting on them disabling the ship. If they can’t do that then the whole plan falls apart. There has to be something else he can--someone’s coming, Keith realizes and hides behind a console just in time.

A galra. He’s older and limping. Must be one of Zarkon’s men injured in Shiro’s initial attack on the fleet. Did he know Keith would be here? He grasps tight on the gun as the galra taps the buttons on the screen. He’s going to have to kill this guy, isn’t he?

Just as he’s about to move from cover and shoot, the door opens again. Reinforcements?

“And now we know _you_ were attempting to shut down the system,” says a voice at the door.

They aren’t talking about Keith since they can’t see him hiding there. So he must be...Thace. The Blade of Marmora inside man. Almost made a horrible mistake and now the druids are running down the catwalk to finish what they started. 

Keith drops the gun and holds tight to his Luxite dagger, transforming it for the fight. He has the element of surprise so he rolls from cover and throws the blade it, sinking it into the enemy’s back. The druid screams and disintegrates into a ball of energy, dropping his sword to the ground with a clatter. 

Now it’s two on one. Together they work to fight the remaining druid. He shoots out dark energy at every turn, making it a dodging game. God Keith hates this magic and teleportation bullshit. Thace finally gets a hand on the druid and flings him into an energy pillar, making him explode into another burst of light. 

Keith catches his breath and looks over Thace to gauge his injuries. Looks like he’s going to be okay. At least he’s standing which is more than he can say for the druids that attacked them.   He looks like Kolivan to him, though decidedly younger. His face has no brandings on it like Kolivan but there is a distinct resemblance in the ears and strong jaw. He could easily be Kolivan’s son but he has no time to ponder it now. 

“Thace, I’m Keith. A paladin of Voltron,” he tells him.

Thace’s eyes glance down at the sword in his hand.

“And a fellow Blade I see,” he notes. “I guess we haven’t failed then.”

“Not yet,” says Keith. 

“Then we better get to work, Keith of Voltron,” Thace nods and starts pulling cables.

Keith doesn’t like the idea at all but it’s all they can do. Turning an entire engine room into a bomb sounds like the worst plan he’s ever heard of. And with the doorway closed off there’s nowhere they can go. They’re going to have to stay here is it goes off.

“Fear not Paladin,” Thace says, pointing off the edge. “There’s an exit through the main power conduit that leads to the second deck. Go.”

“I’m not going to leave you here,” Keith shakes his head.

He says that he must stay to ensure that the bomb goes off. So that no one shuts it down but all Keith can think is _this is just like Ulaz_. Another pointless death in the battle against Zarkon and he’s tired of seeing it.

No. Not again. He promised there would be no more deaths like this one. Not when there’s another way.

Keith wishes he wasn’t doing this but...he strikes Thace as hard as he can on the back of his head, knocking him out cold. Then he moves over the controls. They’re already adjusted to overload, Keith just has to start it. It’ll take time to reach critical levels which means he needs to bar the path to the center central hub more so no one fucks with it to try and turn it off.

Like he did before to block the door, he shoots down additional pillars, all of them landing on the walkway with heavy crashes. Piles them up as much as he thinks the walkway can handle. Even if they get through, it’ll take them a minute or two to clear the way. 

It’s all they’ll need. So he hits the start and slices through the console. That should make it even harder for them. The room lights up, gradually getting warmer as the heat increases. No time to dally.

“Time to go, Thace.”

He shoulders the Blade and jumps off the platform, using his boosters to ensure a steady landing. Using them he’s able to maneuver down the halls as quickly as possible. With any luck, Red will be right outside waiting for them.

*****

What’s taking Keith so long? He should have answered by now. The ship should be infected with the virus already. But still no word and each second that passes makes Lance fear the worst. 

“Come on Keith,” he says nervously as they battle through the throng of enemy fighter ships. “Answer, damn it.”

There are only two reasons why Keith wouldn’t speak. He’s too busy trying to fight or he’s...

The red lion blasts past him towards Zarkon’s ship and it lifts his spirits. If the red lion is heading over then--the bottom section of the ship explodes and Lance’s eyes blow wide. There wasn’t supposed to be an explosion!

“Keith!” he tries hailing through again.

It’s quiet for longer than Lance cares for. But then there’s a crackling response. 

“Keith here,” he answers through the coms. “Did it work? Is the ship stopped?”

“Yes, it’s immobile!” Coran answers and Allura proceeds to activate the teladuv.

“What the hell took you so long?” Lance asks. 

Keith doesn’t have the time to explain that he was carrying an unconscious galra on his shoulders while tearing ass through hallways to escape the devastating self-destruct of the engine room. Oh and then he realized at the last moment that they were about to get ejected into space without a breathing apparatus for Thace. He was forced to pull his helmet off, slam it on Thace, and take his chances in holding his own breath for a few seconds with the hope that Red would be there to immediately catch them. 

If any of those things hadn’t worked out...they’d both be dead. Hell everyone would be.

But Lance really _really **really**_ doesn’t need to know that.

“Doesn’t matter!” Shiro interrupts. “Zarkon’s ship is through the wormhole. Time to follow. Let’s go paladins! It’s time to form Voltron!”

Voltron’s blade cuts through Zarkon’s ship like it’s butter. Slicing pieces off this way and that, rendering it useless. No weapons shooting back. No engines to help them escape. Zarkon has nothing left to fight them with. 

They wreck the weapons systems and the engines in record time. Finally, it feels like they’re winning, like this isn’t as hopeless as they first thought it would be. 

Voltron is going to win.

*****

Keith thought...why did he ever think he could prevent more losses? 

The witch’s magic and that **_thing_ ** that Zarkon piloted...He wasn’t ready for it all.  _ They  _ weren’t ready for it. Never had they faced anything as powerful as them. Voltron was beaten to hell and back, thrashed left and right without a moment to breathe.

It doesn’t matter that they won, if they can even call it that. Keith sure can’t.

They managed a devastating blow to Zarkon. Everyone is pretty sure he’s dead with the way Voltron cut him in half and his mech exploded all over the battlefield but they can’t know for sure with the way they booked it out of there. The power was coming back on to Zarkon’s ship so they couldn’t exactly stay to check.

It was bad enough that they lost Antok, killed by the witch Haggar and her Komar druids. And sure Keith managed to save Thace but that hardly made up for their biggest loss.

Shiro.

He knew the moment the Black Lion stopped moving that something was wrong. At first, he thought it meant Shiro was hurt. Bad enough that he couldn't speak. They towed the lion but Keith never stopped trying to get Shiro to answer. Nothing but radio silence. He’s unconscious or…

“No,” Keith panted as he ran for the lion. 

No, no, no...Shiro can’t be…Keith’s never been a religious person but he prayed to anyone who’d listen. He’d already lost so much. He couldn’t lose Shiro on top of it all. Please, not like this.

He knew exactly what he expected to see. A body, slumped over and injured. He feared there’d be blood, on the floor and console of the cockpit. That maybe they’d have to carry a badly injured Shiro to the med bay in a hurry and that’s only if they got there soon enough. But...

Empty.

Keith didn’t know what to say. His eyes just stared at the vacant chair. The bayard flashed in its slot while the others surround the pilot’s seat. They looked absolutely stunned.

“He’s...gone,” Lance whispered under his breath.

Gone. Keith felt his blood run cold. 

“He can’t,” Keith shook his head. “He can’t be--I--”

“Maybe the Black Lion ejected him?” Pidge suggested. “For his safety?”

“Then we need to go back!” Keith shouted and turned to leave.

Hunk put a firm hand on his shoulder.

“How are you going to get there? It’s still a war zone and Allura’s in no state to make another wormhole,” Hunk told him, sympathetic. 

“We have to do someth--”

“We can track his signal right? From his armor?” Lance put forward. “That’ll tell us if he’s there right?”

Pidge said she was on it, running her way to the bridge with everyone on her heels. Once they arrived Keith clenched his jaw tight, teeth grinding as Pidge ran the console. His fists at his side just as tight. Don’t worry, Pidge told them all. If Shiro’s anywhere in the vicinity of the battlefield then the scans should show it. 

Nothing.

“Expand it,” Hunk suggested, not liking the look on Keith’s face as the screen turns up nothing.

Nothing again.

“He’s not there,” Pidge stated, confused. “Where? Where is he?”

“Maybe his suit was damaged,” Lance guessed.

“Unlikely,” said Allura who’s finally made it to join them. “He’s...likely unlocked the Black Lion’s ability. Teleportation.”

She wobbled over and Coran helped her take a seat at one of the consoles as she let out a deep breath. She wiped her brow with her sleeve and looked to the ground. The altean looked absolutely drained and weak. In no state to be walking anywhere.

“Teleportation? You mean he could be anywhere?” Pidge blinked at the screen. “To search the entire universe...that could take months, even with scans.”

Keith couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Shiro was missing not dead! It sounded like they all wanted to stop looking and they’d barely begun. Well, he wasn’t about to give up. He’d go to each quadrant of the galaxy himself if he had to. He can’t...he can’t lose Shiro on top of everything else. 

He turned to go and Lance grabbed his arm.

“Wait up,” Lance started and Keith tried to tug away without success. “Just wait a second. We just got out of a major battle. Everyone’s tired. You're--”

“I don’t care,” Keith growled and pulled his arm out of Lance’s hold. “I’m going to look for Shiro.”

 

That was a week ago.

 

Every day he’s been getting in his lion to check different quadrants. Working his way outward further and further from the battlefield. Zarkon’s ship retreated within hours of the fight but all the debris and carnage remains. He searches each busted ship and piece of scrap for any sign of white armor with black accents.

Shiro.

He never gave up on Keith. Keith lost him once, no way is he going to lose him again. He’s got to be out there somewhere. 

Each time he comes back to the castle the others look at him with sympathy. They all try to talk to him but he’s short and clipped with his responses. Even Lance can’t get more than two or three words out of him before he returns to his lion to continue the search. On his own.

Keith resents them a little. All of them. 

None of them are searching because they all think he’s gone. They go about freeing more planets from Zarkon’s control, most of the time without Keith. It keeps them busy so they don’t have to think about anything else. Keith helps on some of those missions but he’s quiet and as soon as it’s finished he leaves again.

Lance is trying to be understanding. Losing Shiro must feel like losing a brother. Losing the last of his Earth family. Of course Keith’s upset. They all are but it’s starting to worry Lance for other reasons. 

Keith hasn’t been sleeping in their room, for a whole week. And he doesn’t eat with everyone. In fact, no one ever sees him unless it’s mission time or he’s grabbing supplies. Food for the long hours he’s spending out in space. Most recently he went fifteen vargas before returning. He’s going to burn himself out at this rate. 

But worse than any of that, he won’t talk to Lance. And it’s making Lance sick to his stomach.

“Keith’s back,” Pidge announces from her seat at the bridge. 

“Great,” Lance nods with a sigh. 

He pulls up the castle security cams and watches as Keith makes a beeline for the cafeteria. Probably going to grab some food and then head back to his lion. It’s become so routine that Lance can count the steps.

“You two still not talking?” Pidge asks.

“No,” Lance shakes his head. 

“I’m not surprised,” says a voice from the door. 

“Thace. Should you be up and moving?” Hunk asks, offering him a chair. He takes it with a thank you.

“Galra...we’re very good at a singular focus. Can be a good thing,” Thace explains. “But grief...anger...They are powerful emotions for anyone but for a Galra?”

“Bad?”

“It is all-encompassing,” Thace sighs. “You would do well to address this before it becomes an obsession, if it is not one already.”

Lance lids his eyes before looking to the screen. Keith’s stocking up enough to stay out for a while without returning. Maybe days. He misses Keith. Misses his smile and snarky comebacks. He wants to be considerate of his partner’s need for space but...how long before that respect becomes enabling? 

Someone can insist they aren’t drowning even as their lungs fill with water. Doesn’t mean that Lance should stand idly by and let Keith sink just because he wants to do it alone. Lance is starting to feel like he can’t breathe either, like he’s drowning with Keith. 

He’s waited long enough. Lance stands from his console and marches his way down to the Red Lion hanger. He gets there with time to spare. No sign of Keith at all, just the red lion looking down at him, it’s eyes following as he walks up. 

“Hey Red,” Lance tries to smile but it’s forced and tired. “Mind if I...sit here? I’m worried about Keith.”

Waiting there won’t ensure that Keith’ll stop to talk to him but it’s better than nothing. He moves to take a seat on Red’s claw but she moves the paw. She then lowers her head and opens her mouth to allow him inside the cockpit. The Red Lion giving him access without Keith there? 

She must be just as worried about Keith as he is. 

“Thanks,” he nods and steps inside. 

When obsession hits, Keith abandons all his tidiness. The cockpit is a mess. Papers and print outs of star systems maps litter the floor and walls. It reminds Lance of the shack in the desert. CIrcles for the next zone to check and x's for areas he's cleared. The team all have datapads but something about paper makes Keith feel more in control. 

There’s food wrappers and bottles scattered about too. It looks like Lance’s room in middle school. 

What a mess and that's quite the statement coming from Lance. He uses his foot to scoot the garbage over into one pile. Then picks up and starts stacking the papers from the floor. That’s when Keith steps in. A small look of surprise strikes across his face before it returns to cold and somber. 

“What are you doing in here Lance?” Keith asks with a huff, dropping off his supplies into a nearby box.

“Wanted to talk,” he says, holding the papers out to Keith. “I’m worried.”

“I’m fine,” Keith says gruffly as he takes the papers. He drops them onto the top of the console. 

“About us,” Lance adds and puts a hand on Keith’s. “Remember when we talked about this...talking thing? You can’t keep bottling things up and pushing me out.”

“I’m not bottling,” Keith denies, squeezing his hand. “We’re fine.”

“This is the most you’ve said to me in a week, Keith,” Lance tells him, voice sympathetic. “I’m trying...really really really hard to not take it personally but you keep giving me and everyone else this look.”

“What look?”  
  
“Like you blame us. Like we don’t care enough,” Lance shakes his head. “And that’s not fair.”

“You all stopped looking,” Keith finally eyes him, accusingly. 

“We’re paladins, Keith! We’re supposed to be helping the whole universe!” Lance explains. “Not just ourselves.”

“But...” Keith swallows as his ears flatten against his head. Something about this is reminiscent of how he yelled at Pidge on Arus. 

“Until we get some kind of signal from Shiro...we gotta focus our efforts on helping anyone we can. It’s what Shiro would want us to do. You  _ know  _ that!”

Keith looks into those dark blue eyes and the argument dies in his throat. Lance is right.

He’s been selfish this past week. Leaving the team to handle all those relief efforts so he could search for one man. Blaming all of them for not helping, for not finding Shiro. And they didn’t reprimand him for it, just let him do what he wanted like a petulant child. 

They don’t understand though! Shiro’s out there! If _he_ doesn’t do this then who--

“Sometimes I think you forget you’re on a team,” Lance tries to smile. “You can’t win a relay by yourself. And at this rate...you’re going to burn out before you reach the finish line. Feel me?”

Keith grits his teeth and takes a deep breath in through his nose. Another valid argument. Scolded yet again. His vision blurs and before his eyes can fill with tears he closes them and bows his head with a nod. Lance sighs and folds him into a hug, surrounding Keith’s shoulders with his arms and burying his face in Keith’s neck.

“You don’t have to go through this alone,” Lance assures him. 

It’s the first they’ve touched in days and Keith suddenly remembers how nice it is to be held again. This should have been the first thing he did that day. When he took off and spent hours searching the battlefield. The sinking weight he’s been carrying lifts and he feels himself let go with a muffled sob. 

Hunk was the first to cry. He’s always worn his emotions on his sleeves so the following day after Shiro went missing he burst into tears. Pidge was next. Caught her sniffing in the common room behind the couch trying to hide from everyone. Allura broke down a few days later in the Black Lion hanger when Lance asked if she needed anything. Nothing like holding a beautiful girl in his arms but one crying and sobbing isn’t exactly how he imagined it. 

Lance cried with each and every one of them as they supported each other.

Keith though...Not a single tear until now. Maybe he was afraid of what it would mean. Like admitting defeat. Like giving up.

“I’m s-sorry,” Keith hiccups and wraps his arms around Lance’s middle. His legs shake and go weak, folding in on themselves and forcing the two of them to the ground. “I’m so...Lance, I’m s-sorry.”

“It’s okay, Keith,” Lance rubs his back, getting teary himself.

“I c-can’t...I can’t s-stop looking, Lance. If I give up...then he’s really...”

“I know,” Lance consoles, petting his head. “You don’t have to stop. Take a break though, okay? Sleep in a real bed. Eat a real meal. That’s an order from your boyfriend, got it?”

Keith nods and wipes his face into Lance’s chest with a deep sigh. Lance hugs him close and continues rubbing his back and neck. Says nothing until Keith stops hiccuping and sniffling, his ears raising out of their sad flattened state. Finally, he seems calm again.

“When’s the last time you slept?” Lance asks, running his fingers through his hair and scratching his ears.

Keith doesn’t answer. When Lance tilts his head to look he sees why and lets out a chuckle. Keith is out like a light, his body slack like a ragdoll. That answers his question he supposes. His mind finally released his body from the demands Keith put on it. Thank god it happened here and not out in space or on a mission.

With a little finagling, Lance manages to get Keith on his back, piggy style. He carries him down out of the lion, the hanger and down the hall.  They pass more than a few people as they travel. The initiates along with Pidge and Hunk catch him on the way to their room.

“How sweet,” Natsuri smiles softly. “Danske would be jealous. She loves old-fashioned romance.” 

“Thankfully she’s off ship,” Korok smirks then asks, “How is he feeling?”

“I don’t think he’s slept in days,” Lance tells them. 

“I don’t remember the last time you laid down for more than a couple hours either,” Pidge points out. 

“Maybe you both should take a little time,” Hunk suggests. “Need any help?”

Lance shifts to adjust his hold but thankfully it does nothing to wake Keith. He mumbles something but it’s nothing coherent. His ears flick but return to their place.

“No, I got him,” Lance smiles. 

“Just as well. He’d probably pitch a fit if anyone but Lance carried him anyway,” Pidge grins as she elbows Hunk. “Night Lance. We’ll let Allura know you’re not coming to dinner.”

Lance nods his thanks and moves on. 

He’s glad the others aren’t mad at Keith for how he’s been. More than a few times he’s glared, growled, and even blown up at them. Shiro’s important to Keith because they were--are-- so close.The others understand he’s grieving in his own way and that with time it would get better. So they, along with Lance, just gave him his space to be grumpy and work things out. 

Unfortunately, maybe distance wasn’t the best plan, Lance admits. It...only made it worse.

Lance gets them to the room and carefully lowers Keith to the bed. Then piece by piece he removes the paladin armor. Boots first, followed by thigh cuisses and gloves. He has to sit Keith up for the chest plate and while doing so Keith blinks awake.

“Hey sleepy head,” Lance chuckles. “Lift your arms up. There you go. Want to take a quick shower? You kind of reek buddy.”

Keith nods sleepily as Lance helps him with the rest of his clothes. He shoulders him over to the shower to which Keith just sits down in the stream as Lance pulls off his own clothes. Lance then joins him and scrubs him up, getting all the accumulated sweat and grime from wearing his armor for days at a time. Keith’s so tired he almost falls back asleep under the spray and gentle massage of Lance’s dextrous fingers. 

Once all is finished, Lance brings him back to the bed and lays him down. He sinks into the mattress and the blanket and pillow with an exhausted groan. Chances are the last time he slept was in the chair in his cockpit. Gotta feel like heaven in comparison. 

Lance smiles and slides in too before pulling in close to kiss Keith’s neck. 

“Set an alarm,” Keith yawns. “Four vargas.”

“No,” Lance snorts and ruffles the top of Keith’s head of hair. “No alarms. Sleep until you can’t sleep anymore.”

“Lance,” Keith grumbles but without an ounce of energy to back it.

“Don’t like it then fight me,” Lance dares. “Pretty sure a blind and half dead Puigian could take you at this point.”

Keith relents, not willing to argue. Lance is probably right anyway. He rolls over, which is harder and requires more energy than he thought it would, just so he can hug Lance close to him. So he can feel the comforting warmth and inhale his scent. All the things he deprived himself of the past week, thinking he didn’t deserve them. He still feels like he doesn’t deserve Lance after putting him through his abominable behavior. 

Keith squeezes him tight with a ragged sigh.

“What’s wrong, Keith?” Lance asks, sensing some worry.

“Nothing,” Keith lies, all too obviously. He sounds ready for another round of tears.

“Keith, come on,” Lance says, putting his hands on Keith’s face and tilting him up. “The talking thing, remember? Talk to me.”

“I keep...losing people,” Keith whispers. 

“Keith,” Lance says sympathetically.

“Mom...My dad...” Keith lists off. “I thought...if I could find Shiro--”

“--that you could get something back?” Lance finishes and Keith nods.

Even if he finds Shiro, the way he’s going about it guarantees alienating himself from the others. He’d have nothing by the end of it all, especially if Shiro’s dead. Then it’d be all for nothing. Even Lance said he was worried about them with the way Keith was carrying on.

Stupid, Keith thinks. Trying to find Shiro at the cost of everything else. His health. His friendships. His relationship. If Lance hadn’t come to see him, made him listen...the distance would have grown more and more. How long before the chasm he was making became insurmountable? Before no one was able to make it across? 

Alone on an island, no boats in sight. 

He could have lost Lance and that thought alone makes him feel sick with regret. Lance was right here this whole time. Right there. Feeling just as lonely and tired as he was. He almost ruined the one good thing he has going for him by pushing him out. 

“Sorry,” Keith apologizes. “I’ve been...an ass.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Lance snickers. “Sleep. And tomorrow, you hang out with me. No shooting off into space for...at least a quintent. Maybe two.”

Keith nods in agreement and for the first time in a week he smiles a little. Feels like things are going back to normal again. Slowly. But it feels like it's happening.

“There’s Keith,” Lance grins and leans in. He presses his pursed lips to Keith’s for a soft kiss. “Welcome back.”

Lance’s fingers comb through his hair in slow gentle sweeps as he hums. Keith tries to hum too but within a few notes he starts to drift. His eyes flutter closed and he sinks into the bed, no energy left in his body. Perfectly content to fall asleep under Lance’s watchful eyes and caressing hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	26. Chapter 26

It’s nearly sixteen vargas before either of them moves in the bed. Sixteen vargas of sweet uninterrupted death-like slumber. Then Lance sneezes in his sleep. If he hadn’t had his face right next to Keith’s ear, he probably wouldn’t have noticed but as it is...Keith bolts up, his ear flitting at the burst of air and twitching until it settles again.

“The hell was--” Keith starts and Lance sneezes again to answer him. “Christ,” he sighs and plops back into the bed.

How long have they been out, he wonders. Ahh, like it matters.

He rolls over and runs his fingers through Lance’s hair. It’s been trimmed he realizes. Back to the way he wore it for the Garrison. When did that happen? Keith lids his eyes in guilt. Probably while he was out searching for Shiro the past week.

Is Shiro out there waiting for them to find him? Waiting for Keith to show up and save him yet again? Should he be relaxing like this? Just lazing about while petting his partner?

Feels like he should be doing something more.

“Mmmm,” Lance sighs when Keith’s massage wakes him. “Go back...to sleep.”

Keith checks his watch and shakes his head. It’s been...sixteen vargas? That’s like...Keith converts all the math in his head. Ugh, math was a pain enough when it was just Earth’s measurements...Fourteen hours? Thirteen?

“Time to get up,” Keith tells him. “Lance, we can’t sleep all day.”

“No work today. None. Those are the rules,” Lance pouts and scoots in closer to sap warmth from Keith. “Besides, I’m too tired.”  
  
Keith missed this...waking up next to Lance. He also missed their morning escapades and now seems a great time for one if for no other reason than to get Lance out of bed. Keith slides his hand down Lance’s hot skin and palms his bulging crotch thanks to morning wood. Lance lets out a delicious sigh as Keith rubs.

“Too tired? You feel awake to me,” Keith suggests and squeezes with more purpose.

“H-How about breakfast in bed?” Lance licks his lips. “I feed you...you feed me…”

Keith smirks at that. It's like nothing’s changed.

He captures Lance’s lips with hungry kisses. Sloppy and wet as he mouths and sucks on Lance’s jaw, neck, and chest, slipping down under the blanket to head further south. Keith pulls those boxers down and Lance bobs out, stiff and twitching.

Gives a long steady lick on the underside, from base to tip, before sliding his mouth onto Lance.

“F-fuck...I love...b-breakfast in bed,” Lance trembles as Keith sucks away.

Keith would hum a ‘me too’ but his tongue is busy swirling around Lance’s head. His fingers dig into thighs as he pulls and pushes on Lance’s cock.

“What...do you...want to do today?” Lance asks as Keith works.

“I’m doing it,” Keith answers and then returns to Lance’s cock.

“Ha ha--AH! Christ!” Lance whines as feels Keith’s fangs just barely graze his sensitive tip.

Lance pulls the blanket off them so he can look down and watch as that head bobs between his legs hungrily. He flushes and threads his fingers through the hair atop Keith’s head, caressing back of one of his catlike ears.

It’s just...so nice to be close again.

In the days before Lance’s chest was tight. His mind clouded. Just being in the same room as Keith improves the feeling immensely. If Lance gets a say in it, they won’t leave this bed all day and he’ll get to spend it in Keith’s arms. Warm. Comfy. And happily ignoring anything happening past their door.

“K-Keith,” Lance sighs, biting his lip. “I’m--”

Keith hums with a nod and Lance releases into his mouth with a moan. Keith sucks it all down in two swallows and a lick of his lips. When finished he crawls his way up Lance’s body, peppering kisses up his stomach to his chest. He cradles Lance’s neck and dives in for a long heady kiss with plenty of tongue.

“Thanks for breakfast,” Keith smirks and kisses him more. “You hungry too?”

“You know it,” Lance nods, a blush dusting his cheeks from the euphoria.

Lance reaches up and grabs his cheeks to pull in for another kiss before flipping them with a roll. It results in bumping heads and Keith’s knee hitting the wall. They both chuckle at the clumsiness of the switch but the laughter dies down as Lance kisses his neck.

Normally Keith would stop him from sucking on his neck like this. Hickies. But Lance loves leaving marks and Keith still feels guilty for ignoring him the past week. He lets Lance have this.

After leaving two large bruises on his pulse Lance lets his neck go and starts his descent. Mouthing and kissing down his collarbone, laving his hot tongue over Keith’s nipples. He arches into the contact with a groan as Lance pulls his boxers down just enough to reveal cock. Hard and ready. Lance wraps his fingers around it and starts stroking, slowly.

Keith laces his fingers into Lance’s hair, pulling and guiding him down. Once Lance makes it to Keith’s crotch he laps at Keith’s tip. With a gentle push Keith slides his cock into Lance’s welcoming mouth with a appreciative sigh.

“Good...Lance,” Keith tells him.

Lance hums happily on his cock and he starts bobbing. Keith melts back into the pillow with a sigh at the stellar treatment he’s getting from Lance. By his account, he doesn’t deserve this. But there Lance is, fondling his balls and drooling over his cock eagerly.

“You’re...so good to me,” Keith says and gasps as Lance takes him deep. “T-Too good.”

Keith looks down on that blushing face between his legs. Lance’s lidded eyes look up at him with equal parts fondness and lust. Keith runs his hand down to Lance’s cheek giving him a grateful smile. Lance flushes deeper red and resumes swirling his tongue around Keith, tasting the salt that precedes Keith’s delectable fluids.

He can’t keep this up for much longer. Not with how Lance’s eyes plead for it. Keith nods to let him know it’s coming, in case he changes his mind and wants to move out of the way. Lance shows no sign of moving. When he comes Lance swallows all he can and laps what he misses as it drips off Keith’s shaft.

“You...make the best...breakfast,” Lance pants as he licks. It’s all long gone but Lance continues to run his tongue all over Keith’s skin. “Best flavor. 10/10. Five stars.”

“Enough,” Keith huffs but with a smirk. “My ego’s big enough.”

“That’s not all that’s big, wink wink,” Lance snickers and rubs his cheek on Keith’s thigh. “Mmmmm...I’ll never get used to this. Everything is so light.”

Keith scoops his hands under Lance’s armpits and pulls him up closer to his chest for a few more kisses and snuggling while he comes down from the high. Yes, this is what he really missed. Lance’s warmth. His smell. The sight of his gleaming smile and feel of his heartbeat. It brings him genuine comfort to be next to him again.

He doesn’t want to leave the room, let alone the bed, despite his claims that they can’t sleep all day. And Lance has already told him he’s not to go shooting off into space looking for Shiro again. Not for at least a few days.

“Thinking about Shiro again?”

“Yes,” Keith admits. “He’s out there and I’m--”

“Worried, I know,” Lance sighs, mouthing his chest with a happy hum. “But you need a break. Or you’ll burn out.”

“I know,” he huffs.

“Want to watch a movie?” Lance suggests, his eyes still clouded.

“The projector is in the common room,” Keith tells him.

“Mmmm,” Lance nods in agreement and nuzzles Keith’s soft cat ears.

He keeps thinking one day Keith will purr when he touches them but he never does. He’s starting to think the only thing Keith has in common with cats, other than the obvious, is his independent nature. Wonder which parent he gets that from?

“Oh! Hey!” Lance exclaims at a sudden idea.

He shoots out of the bed and promptly loses his footing due in no small part to the dizzying chemicals that have yet to dissipate. With barely a moment to acknowledge the fall, Lance scrambles on his hands and knees to their side dresser. He pulls open their drawer and produces Keith’s datapad with an excited smile.

“You said there were home movies on here right? Video files? Let’s watch them,” Lance suggests and crawls back into the bed to get under the covers with Keith.

Keith stares hesitantly at the datapad as he takes it in hand.

“Or...did you want to watch them alone?” Lance offers as an alternative.

It’s not that he wants to watch them alone. He’s just not entirely sure what they’ll see. Good memories? Bad ones? Regardless, he knows he’s going to end up crying if one of these videos is a counterpart to the letter his mom left him. The letter he still hasn’t told Lance about.

But it can’t be worse than making himself sick with worry about Shiro. Right?

“Keith?” Lance calls out, worried.

“I uh...no. Yeah. We can watch them,” Keith nods, trying to smile but it comes out weak. “I don’t know what’s in them.”

“Well if it opens up to your parents boning we can just...scrub our eyes out with my face cleanser,” Lance jokes and Keith snorts out a laugh. “If not we’ll get to see some Kogane home movies. Either way, fun times, right?”

Keith nods, a real smile returning to his face as he scans the data. He finds a pretty big one. It’s not titled with anything more than a time stamp. Eight months before Keith was born. He taps the file and inputs the command to run it.

The ground. Desert ground. But then it tilts up and slowly comes into focus on a person.

“My dad,” Keith nods.

He’s young, and no sign of the scar over his eye like Keith remembers. His hair’s the same as always. His smile is softer than he expected it to be. He’s never seen him look so content. Keith was used to seeing him look somber and tired.

 _“Gath, what are you doing?”_ he asks, shaking his head.

 _“Taking video with your primitive Earth camera, clearly,”_ answers a woman’s voice.

For Keith, hearing her voice is like remembering a forgotten song. It sounds familiar and yet so far away. Like an echo of a tune leftover from a dream. His mom. That’s his mom. For that moment in time he loses his breath but it comes back the moment his father speaks again.

 _“Jesus, what for?”_ Keith’s father asks, trying to hide his face and get her to back up.

 _“For Keith of course! Making memories!”_ she exclaims with a laugh. _“Move your hand so he can see!”_

 _“Gath, you’re only a month along. How do you know it’s even a boy?”_ he asks as he sits down on a rock. “ _Galra intuition right?_ ”

“ _You know it,_ ” she chuckles and steps closer.

“This is too cute already,” Lance comments and squeezes in.

 _“Well, what do you want to show him? My five o’clock shadow?”_ he smirks.

 _“Keith, this is your dad. Look at that specimen of earthly delight! Strike a pose you rugged beast!”_ she exclaims with a laugh.

Keith’s dad rolls his eyes with a smirk and now Lance knows exactly where Keith gets it from. But he does wave at the camera before looking fondly back at his partner. Ghaythra then demands that he stand up, maybe do a little dance.

 _“He’s not going to want to see me dance, Gath,”_ Keith’s dad shakes his head with a smile.

 _“Killjoy,”_ Ghaythra whines. _“Fine, take the camera. I’ll do it.”_

The screen goes unstable for a moment in the handoff. Lance glances over at Keith and finds him curiously leaning closer to the screen in anticipation. His ears prick forward with keen interest and Lance bites back a chuckle at how exceptionally catlike he’s being.

Keith doesn’t know why he’s so excited at the prospect of seeing his mom. He knows what she looks like thanks to the picture he found. But the idea of seeing her moving and talking and alive...it feels like better proof that she was real. His mom was a living breathing person and this video proves it better than any static picture.

The camera catches her as she’s backing away. It comes into focus quicker this time in the hands of someone more familiar with it’s functions. She does a dramatic reveal turn and puts her hands on her hips. Both paladins stare as the camera takes her in.

About as tall as her partner, which thinking on it now is short for a Galra. Skin dark purple like Keith’s, maybe even just a smidge darker...from being in the sun, maybe? Can Galra tan? A question that neither Lance or Keith actually care enough to find the answer to.  
  
Her ears are the same, pointed with tufts of fluff on the edges. And her hair’s been pulled back into a long billowy tail at the top of her head. She’d grown it out after crash landing it seems. Eyes are bright and golden like a sunset, catching the light and glinting when she tilts her head to smile.

She’s dressed in earth clothes. High waisted jeans with a red jacket tied around her hips. A cropped yellow tank top shows off her muscles and a plethora of battle scars. If there’s an exposed area of skin, there’s a scar on it. Stomach, arms, neck...everywhere. But despite all that she’s giving the biggest cheshire grin as she poses.

“She’s gorgeous,” Lance states and Keith nods. It’s little wonder Keith’s dad fell in love.

Ghaythra fiddles with her bracelet, a worn gold bangle with etchings in it. Keith recognizes it.  It’s similar to one his dad had. He wore it up until the day he died. He was buried with that bracelet and Keith never even knew what it was.

A shared token.

Keith’s attention is recaptured when she clears her throat to address the camera.

 _“Okay, Keith. So it goes a little something like this,”_ she poses somewhat like a battle stance at first. _“Then you step like this, and pivot on the ball of your foot. Then twist! See? Easy.”_

She does the dance a few times, adding in her own steps. Keith’s dad laughs a little and the two of them laugh in the bed too. Who knew that a well trained soldier/assassin could be such a goofy dancer?

 _“Gath, you look silly,”_ he chuckles.

 _“Says you. I saw it on your ‘tv’. Everyone ‘hip’ dances like this,”_ she assures him and does the moves again.

 _“If it’s the 70s Gath. I need you get you some newer movies,”_ Keith’s dad laughs.

 _“Oh! There was one the other night, it had aliens! Or at least what you Earthlings think aliens look like. It’s hilarious!”_ she bellows with laughter. _“Oh and then! The spy movie I watched! Gotta tell you, that Bond guy, pretty cool and suave but he wouldn’t last two minutes against me. Oh, hey that reminds me! Bring the camera closer! Closer!”_

“Your mom’s so...energetic,” Lance says with a smile.

“I think, I’d be a lot different if I’d known her growing up,” says Keith as his eyes fall soft on her.

 _“Ok Keith, listen up, when you throw a punch, not that you should be punching anyone, this is just in case okay? But when you throw one, like Bond, keep your wrist straight. Got it? So you don’t sprain it,”_ she explains. _“Oh and your thumb. Tuck that in over your first two fingers, like so. And then--”_

With a feral yell, Ghaythra immediately punches a nearby boulder, making the two of them jump. She pulls her fist back to reveal the crater in it and Keith’s dad moves in for a close-up. Jesus, it’s nearly cracked in half. He lets out an impressed whistle and refocuses on her proud and haughty face which looks the same as Keith’s after kicking someone’s ass.

“Maybe not that different,” Keith amends and Lance nods with wide eyes.

_“Good punch, Gath. Hurt your fingers?”_

_“Nope, all thanks to proper technique,”_ she smirks at the camera and flexes her fingers for them to see. No injuries. _“As long as you practice, every day Keith, then you have nothing to fear.”_

“You’re just like her,” Lance snickers.

“Really? She reminds me of you,” Keith disagrees and as if to prove his point, Keith’s mom immediately trips over a rock but squeals with excitement when she finds a lizard underneath. “See?”

 _“Look look look! Another lizard!”_ she says with barely contained excitement. _“Zoom in so I can document it! For Keith of course,”_ she adds.

While Keith’s dad rolls film on the lizard, which turns out is actually a gecko, Ghaythra makes noises reminiscent of an old Godzilla flick. She completes the illusion with cries of anguish and pleas for help as it terrorizes an invisible city by licking it’s eyeball. Keith smiles fondly as Lance laughs. Better than Hollywood, Lance claims.

Eventually, she returns the beast to it’s home and gestures for the camera back. She holds it high and shoots another gleaming pearly white smile.

“Love you, my little sapling. Can’t wait to see you and watch you grow,” she exclaims, a blush blooming on her scarred cheeks. Then the video ends.

That wasn’t so bad. And he was so worried before. Keith was sure he’d start crying at some point but everything was so upbeat and fun. Lance shoots him a look. Another? Why not. He scrolls through the data again, looking for another large file. They have time for more before actually getting up and eating real food.

 ** _Week Two_** is the title of the file he taps.

The video opens up with someone carrying the camera down the hall. A human hand pushes open a door and reveals a small bedroom. There’s a crib in the corner and Keith’s mother is leaning on it in her sleep.

She’s cut her hair again to a nice manageable shoulder length so now she really looks like Keith. Sitting on a chair wearing baggy shorts and a t-shirt that says ‘suns out, guns out’. Her hand is squeezed through the bars and touching a bundle that they can only assume is a baby Keith.

 _“Oh Gath,”_ Keith’s dad chuckles. _“You keep doing this and you’ll throw out your back.”_

He puts the camera down on a dresser and then carefully shakes her awake. Before noticing her partner or the camera she immediately checks the crib with mild concern. When everything checks out she sits back with a relieved sigh.

 _“Gath, come to bed. He’s fine,”_ he assures her.

 _“No, I want to stay with him. Keep him safe,”_ she objects with a nervous glance into the crib.

She looks nothing like the confident and fearless woman from the previous video. Now she’s just...a new mom worried about her baby.  She can’t take her tired eyes off the crib and her sleeping child within.

 _“You worry too much, Gath. Nothing’s going to happen to him,”_ he promises. He takes her hand and gently pulls her from the chair. _“You need your rest.”_

 _“But...he hardly ever cries. What if he gets hungry? Or scared? And I don’t hear him? Can we move the crib to our room?”_ she asks, her eyes pleading as he picks the camera back up.

Keith’s dad laughs and says, _“Sure,”_ before the video cuts out.

That was too sweet, Lance thinks. Nothing sad even happened but Lance wants to cry. She cared so much. Its cruel that she didn’t get the chance to be there for him. When he looks over he sees that Keith’s eyes are welling up with tears.

“I…” Keith starts and shakes his head as he clenches his jaw. The tears drop onto the screen and trickle their way down into his lap. “I wish…”

“Keith,” Lance sighs and pulls him into a hold. “You wanna stop watching them?”

After a deep breath, Keith answers, “No. Here, you pick the next one.”

Lance takes the datapad with a sympathetic smile and scans through the files while Keith rubs his face on Lance’s shirt. After a little searching, he finds one labeled **_Laugh_ **. Sounds safe enough. He taps it and holds the screen between them to watch.

The camera is placed on a blanket outside in the shade of a rock formation. On the blanket is a little baby turning to look curiously at the lens and Lance immediately points.

“It’s you! Look!” Lance laughs and Keith smiles. “Aww. Never thought I’d get to see baby pics of you. Guess you were already injected then.”

Must have been because he looks like an average human baby. He wiggles and attempts to push himself up to crawl but he lacks the strength. Still too little for much more than turning his head to look around. Keith’s mom comes into the frame and lays down on her stomach to look at him.

“ _Want to hear a joke Keith?_ ” she asks with a grin. _“Where does an astronaut park their spaceship?”_

Keith just coos and tries to grab her hair.

“ _A parking **meteor**! _ ” she reveals and bellows with laughter.

Lance tries to hold it in. He really does. Smacks a hand to his mouth to contain the snort but he can’t. With comedy gold like that he just...has to appreciate it properly.

He bursts with laughter and Keith isn’t shocked in the least. The baby Keith on the screen doesn’t get the joke because, well, he’s a baby. His cognitive understanding is still based on what he can or can’t see. Adult Keith rolls his eyes at the two of them laughing but still smirks at the joke.

“ _You’ll get it when you’re older,_ ” she assures him. “ _I promise it’s hilarious. Here. Tickle tickle tickle!”_

The infant giggles and kicks with glee. Guess he’s always been ticklish.

 _“There’s that smile,”_ she sighs when she stops.

Her smile looks tired. In fact, all of her looks tired. Weak. It’s then that Keith remembers this might be around the time she wrote her letter to him. Lance just watches with a smile, ignorant of what he’s seeing on the screen. She was dying.

 _“Want to hear a secret Keith?”_ she whispers as she lays down next to him. _“I found something last week. In the desert. It’s special.”_

Keith coos again and gets a handful of her soft hair.

 _“It’s hidden. I can’t reach it. I’m a rotten person so...guess I was never meant to,”_ she sighs, looking at her scarred hands. _“I can feel it though. Like it wants me to stay. Can you feel it too, I wonder?”_

She scoots in closer and kisses him on his head. Her arms scoop him up and hold him close as she rolls onto her back to look at the sky. Those golden eyes are filled with inner turmoil and Keith knows exactly what’s on her mind.

Ghaythra stopped caring about the mission of Blades years ago. But discovering the blue lion...she should relay that information to someone who can use it to stop Zarkon. One of her brethren. Of course, then they’d know where she’s been all this time.

Is there a penalty for treason among the Blades?

She could always protect the location herself but to do so she needs more medication. Even if she has the strength for such a long trip...leaving in that makeshift ship risks her getting caught by Zarkon’s military. It would draw attention to the Earth. And then they raze it to the ground in their search.

Her options are severely limited and the fear tightens around her like a noose. All she cares about is protecting Keith and her new home. And her eyes close when she comes to the decision that will keep them safe. The decision that ended with her never returning.

 _“I hope you’ll remember me,”_ she whispers. _“My little sapling.”_

The baby pulls on her hair and coos, breaking through her somber wall. He flails and giggles making her laugh.

 _“Look at me, getting all mopey when you want to play,”_ she smiles and sits up with a grunt. _“Let’s go find...hmmm oh! Let’s go find an_ _urocyon cinereoargenteus! Sound fun?”_

She reaches over and clicks off the camera. Instead of sitting in silence Lance starts talking to keep the mood from dropping.

“You know why she keeps calling you that? Little sapling? Cause I totally know,” Lance brags.

“Is this going to be the punchline to a joke?” Keith asks.

“No, no. I asked one of the older Blades what your name means in Galra,” Lance reveals. “Forest of dreams. Neat huh?”

That is a little interesting, since Keith’s fairly sure on Earth his name means ‘woods’ or something like that. His parents must have agreed on a name that appealed to both their cultures. One that meant something similar in both languages. A perfect meld.

“Oh, I asked about Ghaythra too,” Lance adds. “Water on high. Or tears from heaven. Your mom’s name is literally ‘Rain’.”

“Huh,” Keith nods.

“Apparently, Galra are big on symbolism and stuff. They name their children based on their hopes for the future,” Lance explains. Keith stares at him, not sure where all this research came from. Lance blushes and scratches his head when he adds, “I was really bored the past week. Thought it would be cool to...know more about the Galra. And you.”

Keith looks guiltily away, remembering the reason Lance was so bored was because Keith wouldn’t talk to him.

“Sorry,” Keith says again and Lance pinches his arm. “Ow, what was that for?”

“Told you, if you keep saying sorry for no reason that I’d make you sorry,” Lance reminds him with a pout. “So stop it.”

“Sor--er, okay,” Keith amends when Lance readies another pinching finger.

“That’s better,” Lance smirks and gestures him out of the bed. “Come on. As tasty as I am, Lance Mcclain is not a nutritiously balanced meal.”

They pull on some clothes, brush their teeth, and take care of their usual morning regimen despite it being what they’d consider early afternoon. When finished they give each other the once over. Keith wipes toothpaste from the corner of Lance’s lip with a wet thumb and  Lance fixes Keith’s hair with a little styling gel.  When finished they leave their room together for the first real meal either of them has eaten in days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	27. Chapter 27

 

It’s been one whole day keeping his feet on the ground and Keith has to say Lance was right about taking a break. Being grounded helps him think better. Not only that but he gets to catch up with all the people he’s been ignoring. It gives him the chance to apologize to them too. 

Coran accepts his apology but admits he hardly noticed any adverse behavior from Keith. His worries lately have been focused on the Princess. While Keith has been flying around desperately searching, she’s been somber and silent. Reminds him of the time when Allura’s mother passed away. She won’t talk to anyone unless it’s mission related and all attempts to get her to open up have failed.

Keith doesn’t even attempt to find her and bring up Shiro. It would probably do more harm than good anyway. So he just moves on to the rest of the team.

Pidge and Hunk don’t hold it against him. And they’re glad he’s hanging around the castle again. For the past couple of days they’ve been teaching random Blades how to play poker. Pidge has been winning pretty regularly until the older Blades starting playing with them. Now she’s ready for some easy fare again.

“That Thace guy,” Pidge huffs. “We pulled out all the stops but he wiped the floor with us. Him and Natsuri.”

“You didn’t go easy on an injured guy?” Lance asks incredulously. “Come on, Pidge.”

“We did at first but then he was destroying us!” Pidge says defending herself. 

“So wanna play with us again?” Hunk nudges Keith. “I’ll grab some fun Galra snacks I’ve been working on.”

“Sure,” Keith nods with a small smile. 

He’s been meaning to make it up to them. Plus, he needs something to take his mind off of Shiro. A friendly game of poker should help with that. 

They walk together to the common room. Two Blades sit on the couch and play with Pidge’s game system. They only look up from the screen for a brief moment before returning to their virtual adventure. Natsuri spots them setting up from the door as she passes and her eyes light up.

“Paladins of Voltron, are you...playing that game again?” she asks with interest. 

“God she’s going to wreck us,” Pidge despairs under her breath.

“Sure is,” Hunk smiles. “Want to join? I made Maturin jerky.”

“Maturin jerky,” she blinks. “Hmm, I should let Korok know but…” Natsuri checks the hall and enters with a little smile. “Maybe after a few rounds.”

They play together for nearly twenty minutes. Pidge and Hunk weren’t kidding about Natsuri being very good. Knows exactly when to go for the raise. She and Keith dominate the game for awhile but every once in a while Lance or Hunk snatches a victory. Pidge just seethes in her seat while trying to come up for an explanation of why she keeps losing that doesn’t include her just sucking.

“Maybe Galra are just...really good at recognizing opportunities,” Pidge surmises. “That’s why they’re both so good.

“Your heartbeats quicken when you lie,” Natsuri reveals and the humans stare with disbelief. Then they all look at Keith.

“No. My hearing’s not  _ that  _ good,” Keith huffs to answer their questioning glances. “I do hear when your breath catches though.”

“Ugh, I fold,” Lance sighs. 

“Same,” Hunk says, tossing his cards in.

“Need to get an all Galra team to play,” Lance suggests with a grin. “Now that would be intense.”

“Sounds interesting,” says a voice from the door.

They all turn to see who’s standing at the door. This is the first time Keith’s seen him since he knocked him out and carried his unconscious body out of Zarkon’s fortress. The inside man Thace. He looks significantly more healthy now. 

Natsuri and the other Blades stand to give him a respectful bow, which he returns with a soft smile. They all take their seats again as he approaches the group. He eyes the seats before asking, “Is there room for another player?”

“I’ll bounce out,” Lance grins and moves to lean over the back of the couch behind Keith. “Don’t want to miss this.”

Thace takes the seat with a chuckle as Hunk passes him his ‘poker chips’ and the bowl of jerky bites. He takes one and nods his thanks as Pidge deals the cards. 

He’s a brilliant strategist and one cool customer. It’s little wonder he was chosen to be an undercover man within Zarkon’s ranks. Within seconds he knows whether or not the round is worth the risk of raising or not. He only ever loses his anted chips. If he meets the bet he wins two thirds of the time. If he raises his victory is practically guaranteed.

But Keith’s no slouch. He gets a couple of wins through the luck of some very good draws and well timed bluffs. The other two Blades playing video games stop and watch over Hunk and Pidge’s shoulders for a while. By the time Keith looks up from the game table they’ve accumulated quite the crowd. More than a couple Blades as well as Coran. 

“You’re quite the risk taker,” Thace muses as Keith deals out another round. “And headstrong.”

That was...not a compliment, Keith decides. More of an accusation. And not about his poker skills. Now that he’s thinking about it...this is the first they’ve really talked since the fight with Zarkon. Yes, that comment was decidedly about his actions prior.

“That’s me,” Keith nods, but his shoulders tense. 

He doesn’t like notion that he’s being criticized. Puts him on edge. Lance reaches over and palms the back of Keith’s neck with a gentle squeeze. Once. Twice. And on the third compression, Keith feels himself untense a little. Not a lot, but enough to keep from frowning as they play.

The rounds continue but not for much longer as Allura interrupts their game. She has work for the paladins. They need to go over some battle plans for freeing a few more planets and since everyone is rested now’s a good time to review them and coordinate with Kolivan for the work. She tells them to wrap it up and meet her in the war room. 

Pidge and Hunk throw their cards in first. They’re going to run and change into their armor before going to the meeting. Natsuri thanks them all for the game and returns to her duties, but not before discretely snatching another handful of jerky. The group of watching Blades disband after the game ends leaving Lance, Keith, and Thace at the table.

“Good game, Paladin,” Thace congratulates him and extends his massive hand for a friendly shake.

“You too,” Keith nods and takes his hand for a firm shake, never breaking eye contact. 

“Glad to finally have a chance to meet you outside of a combat mission,” he says as he takes his hand back. “Our leader tells me you are the son of one of our former Blades. Ghaythra.”

“I am,” Keith tells him. 

“She did not teach you our ways it seems,” says Thace, a hand on his hip and the other pinching his chin. “Any other Blade would have listened to a superior officer’s orders and abandoned ship but instead you struck me unconscious and took it upon yourself to save my life while putting the mission at risk. You could have ruined everything and gotten every one of us killed if things hadn’t worked out.”

Keith feels himself tensing again and Lance puts a hand on his back to curb his ire.

“You are reckless, rebellious, and easy to provoke into confrontation,” Thace sighs with a shake of his head. “Just like your mother. Easily the worst traits for a Blade of Marmora.”

Is this guy trying to piss him off? Because he’s succeeding. Keith’s clenching his jaw to keep from baring his teeth. If Lance weren’t already holding his wrist it would be flying into someone’s nose.

“That being said…” Thace levels a proud smile at him. “...they aren’t terrible traits for a Paladin of Voltron, I suppose.”

Keith feels his anger dissipate a bit at the shift in mood. Even Lance is surprised at the sudden change in the air between them. It’s enough to prompt him into letting go of Keith’s hand, no longer worried about a brawl starting.

“Thank you for saving me,” Thace bows his head a little. “I understand that our leader gave you a reprimand for the risk you took.”

Keith hardly remembers it but Kolivan did talk to him. He was too numb from the shock of Shiro disappearing to process any of the individual words or care about their meaning. Now he’s trying to recall specifics but only catching bits and pieces.

“Dissatisfied with my actions. Something, something...lack of experience. Detriment to mission objective. Need to take more caution,” Keith mumbles as he tries to recall but shakes his head when that’s all that resurfaces. “I think if he yelled I’d remember more.”

“His heart wasn’t in it to berate you too harshly,” Thace explains with a sigh. “He would never admit it, but he’s thankful for your reckless actions. I am as well. I haven’t seen my father’s frown in years. He likely thought he’d never see mine again either. So, thank you on his behalf.”

“I just...did what I thought was right,” Keith shrugs.

Thace gives him another encouraging pat on the shoulder eliciting a sheepish smile from Keith.

“You should get to your meeting,” Thace tells them. “Should you need anything do not hesitate to ask. The last I need is Ghaythra cursing me from beyond the stars because I did not treat her son as my own.”

“Sure,” Keith nods and turns to Lance. “Let’s go.”

“And Paladin Lance, is it?” Thace inquires. “Kolivan says he has something to run by you.”

“Hmm?”

“You did have an interest in becoming a Blade?” Thace reminds him.

“Ah! Yeah! Definitely!” Lance nods with excitement. 

“Then see him when you have time on your hands,” Thace tells him. “He believes he has a mission you specifically would be useful for.”

“I will,” Lance promises and clenches his fist victoriously as they walk away. “Sweet. They probably want to utilize my amazing sharpshooting skills. Who can blame them? I am pretty awesome.”

“Well, they definitely don’t want you for your modesty,” Keith snorts but shoves him playfully. 

They shove back and forth the whole way back to the war room, only stopping once they step inside for the briefing.

*****

Allura keeps them busy with all sorts of missions in the following two days. So much so they barely have time to do anything outside of sleeping. Everyone suspects it’s her way of keeping her mind off of anything that’s bothering her, and losing Shiro is definitely one of those things. 

Sometimes Keith catches her hanging around the Black Lion. She’ll stand by it, somber expression on her face and unspoken words on her lips. Other times she places a palm to the mighty beast, as if to comfort the lion just as much as herself. But instead of saying anything she simply turns and leaves the hanger to return to her duties. 

The four lions continue the work that they were meant for. They liberate planets from Zarkon’s military bases left and right, some of them with the help of their Marmora allies. Kolivan leads his elite team as ground troops on most days, since they have very few ships of their own and even less capable pilots for them.

They ‘commandeer’ a couple of fighter ships from those bases and start training others to use them. Korok is currently training to use one thanks to some encouragement from the other Paladins. He has a knack for it and since he should be passing his own trial soon, it would be valuable to have as many pilots in the fight as possible. 

A couple of aliens from the planets they rescue sign right up to join in the fight. With all the fear that Zarkon has spread far and wide it’s amazing that there’s still those willing to resist. Many of the volunteers say that the lions and stories of Voltron inspire them to do so. Makes the Paladins proud of all they’ve accomplished despite their missing leader.

Lance watches from afar as Keith speaks with Allura after helping set up some relief tents. There were more than a few injuries in some of the recent liberation missions and even the castle doesn’t have enough healing pods for every person who gets hurt. Lance helps Hunk and Pidge with handing out supplies and bandages to treat the non-life threatening wounds but can’t help eyeing his partner when there’s a lull.

They’re discussing times that can be set aside specifically for Keith to continue his searches for Shiro. He already ran it by Lance and after some ‘energetic’ discussion managed to come to an agreement. Nothing longer than six vargas within a two quintent period. That way he doesn’t spend too long away from the team, or Lance for that matter. He just has to run it by Allura now, since he’ll be using her wormholes to get there and back. 

With the way Allura is nodding and giving a soft smile it looks like Keith will allowed some free time to do his searches. Understandable. Allura wants Shiro found just as badly but knows she can’t abandon her duty as a diplomat. And Keith’s not great with these large crowds and social interactions anyways, so it’s better to just let him search.

“Paladin Lance,” calls a voice nearby. Kolivan.

Lance hands off the medicine to the next person before letting Hunk know he’s leaving for a sec.

“Kolivan. Er...or is it Mr. Kolivan? Or like...sir? Maybe General?” Lance questions scratching his head. 

“Just Kolivan or sir will suffice,” he tells him, his face no less serious than it was before Lance’s bumbling. 

“You wanted to talk about a mission right?” Lance asks. 

“Yes,” Kolivan nods and gestures to the side so that they may talk without bothering others. “You assisted in the rescue of the scientist Slav from a high security prison. We would like you to help with a similar mission.”

“Another prison break? I’m game,” Lance shrugs. “What do you need me to do?”

The explanation is shorter than Lance expected. The Blue Lion has the ability to scan the entire facility like last time. It’s pivotal that they have a detailed layout for their infiltrators. To reduce the chance of casualties. Once that is acquired and the data transferred to those on the team, the remaining members will work together to take down the security and free the prisoners. 

As a paladin of Voltron, Lance need only do the first thing to help the cause. But if he still desires to prove is skills to the Blades he must join the infiltration team to fight drones and Zarkon’s officers. And afterward, assist in freeing the prisoners. It doesn’t sound too complicated.

“Is there anyone in particular we’re looking for?” Lance wonders.

“All of those imprisoned there are war criminals...against Zarkon,” Kolivan reveals. 

“Oh. Oh! So they might be all for continuing in the fight to free the universe. I gotcha,” Lance nods with a grin. “Disrupt more of the baddies ranks and add to our own. Smart.”

“Many of them belong to rebel factions and as such have sensitive information about Zarkon’s installations and bases, as well as the inclination to give that information to those who might best utilize it,” Kolivan tells Lance. 

“Great, when do we leave?” 

“As soon as my secondary squad returns,” Kolivan informs him. “In about three quintents.”

“Three days,” Lance hums. 

“Get any affairs in order by then, Paladin. This mission will be dangerous on many fronts so prepare yourself accordingly,” Kolivan nods and excuses himself to join his people.

“Dangerous…” Lance swallows. “Right. Got it.”

How dangerous, he wonders. Could get injured dangerous? Or maybe squad members will die dangerous? Like...go to this prison and never come out dangerous? He has to say none of those really appeal to him. He likes his limbs and organs where they are--in one piece and not in shackles.

Considering all the things he’s been through up to this point Lance thinks it’ll be okay. Probably. He’s so not nervous about it at all. He can totally handle this. It’s not like Keith almost died or anything just to join the Blades...yeah…

The look of worry must be plastered all over his face because Keith approaches and gives him a nudge.

“You okay? You look sick,” Keith comments. “Need a bucket?”

“I’m fine,” Lance smiles weakly. “Just nervous.”

“About the Blade mission? Kolivan told me about it,” says Keith as he leans against a tent pole. “Said I couldn’t join since it's part of it is your test.”

“Cause you’d help,” Lance sighs. “Figures.”

He can’t have someone in his corner for it. The same way Keith was completely alone for his trial. If he’s alone it’s easier to gauge what Lance is really capable of on his own since Blades are often doing mission without any assistance. It sucks but it can’t really be helped.

“Wish you could be there,” Lance pouts. “It’s easy to work hard when I need to show you up.”

Keith snorts at that with a smirk. “When do you head out?” he then asks.

“A couple days,” Lance answers, looking glumly at his feet.

“A couple days, hmm,” Keith repeats and scratches his chin. “That’s enough time for...another date, don’t you think?”

Lance whips his head up from the ground to look at Keith’s flushed cheeks.

“We haven’t been on one in awhile,” Keith comments. “What do you think?”

“Movie date?” Lance guesses.

“We’re out of new movies,” Keith reminds him. “Out of snacks too. I was thinking...we’d go to the Space Mall. Just the two of us.”

Lance’s eyes light up as a smile spreads across his face.  A date, at a mall? It’ll be just like being on Earth again. They can do some window shopping. Lunch in the food court. Hit up an arcade. Then back home for a little fun. He makes some kind of excited noise and nods with excitement.

“We can go tomorrow,” Keith tells him. “After you do a little target practice in the training room.”

Lance pouts at the prerequisite but nods in agreement. “Fine.”

“Can’t have you missing your mark on the mission,” Keith smirks and gives his shoulder a shove. “Now get back to work.”

*****

He doesn’t want Lance to know he’s just as worried about the Blade mission. It’s why he’s trying so hard to look indifferent as Lance shoots his hologram targets. Even pulls out his book to pretend to read but out of the corner of his eye Keith takes count of how many bullseyes Lance manages.

Keith’s trial was anything but safe. Lance’s can’t be any less risky. So it’s really important that he be as prepared and composed as possible. A little practice should cover the first and their date the latter. 

But a small part of him wishes he could go too. 

“86 out of 100,” the computer states.

“Again Lance,” Keith calls out, his eyes down in his book. “You need above a 90 if you want to go to the mall.”

“Ugh, you’re so demanding!” Lance groans but smirks as he starts the practice over again. 

The door opens to admit two familiar faces, one of which Keith hasn’t seen in awhile. Danske. She looks a little different. They both do actually and Keith can’t place why until he sees their new weapons. Luxite blades.

“Ooo! Lance is practicing!” Danske trills and runs up beside him to ‘observe his technique’. 

Well, she hasn’t changed that much. He sighs and Natsuri shakes her head at Danske’s shameless behavior. She joins Keith at the wall.

“Hello again,” she smiles and gives him a respectful bow. “Now we stand as equals, brother.”

“Congrats,” Keith nods back but tries not to look up from his book at Lance. 

“Is it true?” she asks and Keith just raises a brow. “That Lance is going to join the Blades?”

“He wants to,” Keith shrugs and flips a page. 

“Hmm, but you don’t want him to,” she comments, her eyes picking up minute facial cues despite himself.

He doesn’t really but it doesn’t matter want Keith wants. If Lance is set on doing this then he won't stop him. Trying to keep him from doing so is tantamount to Keith not trusting him. Not believing in him. The best thing he can do is support Lance the way Lance always seems to be supporting him. 

Lance can handle this...hopefully without injury.

Natsuri brushes a tendril of hair back behind her long ears and Keith’s eyes catch a flash of something he hadn’t noticed before. Had Natsuri always worn jewelry? An earring, bronze in color, flat and rectangular dangling from her lobe. Some kind of inscription is etched into the metal but Keith can’t read it.

“It’s from Korok,” she answers his prolonged staring. “We’re both Blades now, which means we won’t always be on the same missions. A way to keep connected.”

“One of those token things?” Keith asks and takes his eyes away from it. 

He hadn’t even known they were together. They're far more discreet than Lance and him.

“Yes,” she answers. 

“Congrats again, I guess?” Keith shrugs. He’s not sure if Galra congratulate people on dating or not. 

“Thank you,” she smiles. “Danske’s been pouting since I got it. Thinks she’ll never get a paramour.”

“93 out of 100,” the computer echoes. Lance and Danske hoot and holler at the victory.

“See that? Razzle dazzle!” Lance grins and dances a little. 

“Great,” Keith smirks. “Now, you need to spar. No gun.”

“What? No! You said--” Lance whines.

“We’ll go to the Mall when you’re done,” Keith promises. “Regardless of whether you win or lose.”

“Lose? Me? Against you? Pffft!” Lance scoffs and kick slides his bayard to the edge of the arena. He then readies his fists.

“Natsuri, can you?” Keith gestures his head to Lance. If Keith did it he’d end up holding back. And so would Lance.

“Certainly,” she nods with understanding.

Without much announcement she runs into the arena and into Lance’s space. A strike to the chest that Lance just barely catches in his surprise. He’d expected Keith but...a whirling kick swings at him that he dodges with a little luck. He barely deflects the next fist that comes swinging for his face. Lance kicks back with a long leg and Natsuri lets him hit her side just so she can clench her arm around his knee.

“Whoops,” Lance blinks just before she throws him off his balance and to the ground.

He isn’t down there long before she brings one of her legs up for a stomping kick. Lance rolls  out of her way and tumbles to his feet, panting. She doesn’t let up and proceeds to unleash punch after punch at him. It takes everything for him to just keep distance between them.

“Can’t run away forever paladin,” she tells him. 

Lance eyes his bayard at the edge. He’s not supposed to use it but...Lance goes on the offensive and starts pushing her back towards it. Keeps them going in that direction until--

She trips over the bayard.

Lance goes for the lunge then, hands out and grasping for her. He knows how to get someone in a hold thanks to the many times Keith’s pulled that move on him. His hands reach out and--

She grabs his wrists, uses her feet to kick and flip him over her prone body and into the wall with a smash. Lance hits hard enough that the fight stops. Everyone swarms around him as he grabs his head with a groan. He’s fine, just dazed.

“I submit...I’m ready for my date now.”

“Sorry, Lance,” Natsuri apologizes but her face hardly changes. “You eyed your weapon too many times. I knew you were trying to utilize your surroundings for combat.”

“She just did the same thing except using the wall to incapacitate you,” Danske giggles. “You okay?”

“Ugh, and I said I’d win…”

“If it’s any consolation Lance, you lasted longer than I expected you do,” Natsuri tells him and extends a hand to raise him up. “My first strike is usually fast enough to take down most.”

“If it was a battle of guns, you’d win. Natsuri hates firearms,” Danske adds. “Hurts her ears and messes up her concentration.”

“Good to know,” Lance manages to smile as he scoops up his bayard. 

Keith sighs with relief knowing that Lance isn’t seriously injured. A little bruised pride but he’ll survive that. The match did nothing to make Keith feel better though. Just reinvigorates the desire to go with him in case of trouble. Hand to hand is not Lance’s forte and he can only hope that Lance never loses access to his weapon.

God he hates that he can’t do more.

“I want whatever kind of milkshake equivalent they’ve got at that mall,”Lance smiles as he rubs the bump on his head. “Ready?” 

“Yeah,” Keith nods, trying to smile back.

“Great, let’s go,” Lance hurries over and hooks an arm around his shoulder. “Shotgun.”

“It’s just the two of us,” Keith reminds him.

“I know. I just don’t want to drive,” Lance grins. 

It looks like the training lifted Lance’s spirits even if it did little to raise his own. Keith gives Natsuri a nod to thank her for her help and she just smiles at the two of them while fiddling with her earring. Danske energetically waves goodbye as they leave and shouts that next time she wants to fight Lance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	28. Chapter 28

The mall hasn’t changed at all with the exception of being a little more bustling than before. Lots of smiling faces and loud chatter among the different races. Tons of little groupings of people just chattering away. As the two of them pass, a number of the conversations can be heard. 

They talk about Voltron and the great battle with Zarkon’s flagship. How Zarkon’s reign is ending. That they heard another planet was freed from his control nearly every other day. Most of that gossip is told in hushed tones as if worried about someone reporting them to the Galra Empire. 

Keith gets a number of looks as the two of them walk around the mall. Some stare at him as if trying to figure out if he’s a civilian or soldier. His manner of dress suggests the former but the serious gaze and way he walks convey otherwise. Their eyes grow distrustful, that is until Lance grabs him by the arm to drag him from storefront to storefront. When he does that all doubts fly out the window--no soldier would allow some human to pull them like that so he must be a civilian.

Clearly not affiliated with Zarkon they think and return to their conversations but not without giving him another wary stare. 

“Look at these,” Lance awes, his face pressed to the glass. “Reminds me of the flower pots in my Aunt’s garden. I need to grab a shot.”

Lance takes pictures all over the place. He can’t stop himself. When he sees something clever or cool he has to snap a shot of it, preferably with himself or Keith in the foreground. Keith doesn’t mind and even takes a few for Lance when he wants his whole body in the shot.

It’s nice and relaxing. Keith keeps looking around as if expecting the Mall Cop to show up at any second to ruin their fun. But he doesn’t. Must be because Lance is wearing his hood up, hiding most of his features and Keith looks nothing like he did last time he visited. That or the security just doesn’t care and has better things to do.

“Oh man, there’s Terra,” Lance points at the Earth store.

“Want to get something?” Keith asks and fingers the GAKcard in this pocket. “Think I have enough for a couple of DVDs.”

“Nah,” Lance waves the idea away. “Save it for lunch. Hey, let's check out that shop over there.”

Some kind of accessory store. Lance comments that a certain pair of earrings would look good on Allura and that it’s a shame they can’t get her something to cheer her up. She could use a pick me up and he’s pretty sure she likes shiny jewelry. Keith hardly hears him. Just stares lost in thought at the shining bangles and rings. 

Pricey stuff but looks of good quality. Should he…?

“Ooo! Look, Keith, that’s the fountain Pidge and I raided,” Lance chuckles as he tugs on his jacket. 

As they walk towards it Keith spots a familiar place. The health clinic with the telltale lizard lady handing out flyers. New coupons for different medicines. He wonders if the beetle alien Kik is still there too.

“Hey, I want to stop in here for a sec,” Keith alerts Lance. 

“Sure thing, I’m gonna take some pictures of the fountain. Maybe do a little video,” Lance nods and gestures that he’ll be over at the landmark. 

Keith heads inside as Lance jogs away. The establishment looks a little different, like the shelves have been reorganized. Smells strongly of medicinal powders and disinfectant, things he missed the first time he came in. Standing at the desk is Kik, typing away on multiple screens and talking with a customer.

“I’ll be right with you sir,” Kik calls cheerfully in his direction as they finish up. The tall noodly looking alien stands, says something, and takes their leave with their prescription. “How may I help you today, sir? A refill on Galra nutrient pills? We have a special--”

“Don’t know if you remember,” Keith starts. “You gave me an ‘inoculation’ after a blood donation a while back.”

“After a blood don--oh! Why yes!” they chitter excitedly as they do a search of the system data. “Keith of Earth. Purchase of a flu shot and vitamins. My apologies for not recognizing you, it seems your ‘inoculation’ didn’t take. Truly, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Keith shrugs. “Wanted to thank you for it anyway. So thanks.”

“Is there something else you need?” Kik asks and as Keith comes closer he lowers his voice. “I’m afraid a gene suppressor will no longer work for you at this stage but with the way things are going now, you may have nothing to fear in being conscripted into Zarkon’s military. Rumor is that Voltron has his empire on the run.”

“Oh yeah?” Keith smirks, his pride growing a little.

“That is the rumor but you didn’t hear it from me,” Kik clicks his mandibles in a way that suggests chuckling. 

“I didn’t come for a suppressor,” Keith informs him and looks out from the store at the fountain. Lance is still there shooting his video retelling of their last adventure there and he has a sudden idea. “You still in the market for Galra blood?”

Kik blinks and eyes the store. Empty. 

“Same amount? And compensation?” Kik inquires with twitching feelers and Keith nods. “This way, please. I’ll even throw in a free check-up.”

*****

Lance sits on the fountain with the camera in front of him. He narrates the events of the last time he was at the Space Mall including the bit where they were kicked out by the security. It’s a lengthy story but he spares no details on it, including how they used their stolen goods to buy a game system. 

“And then, we rode the cow on a hoverboard out of the mall,” Lance finishes up. “Ah, Kaltenecker. Wonder what she’s up to?”

Lance glances back over at the store Keith entered. He’s still not out. Keith told him about the suppressor shot forever ago and Lance guesses that is where he got it. Lately, Keith’s been caring less and less about his appearance so Lance doubts he went in looking for a new one. Maybe it was just a check-up but he’s not about to pry. 

After a few more minutes of taking pictures, he looks over at the clinic again. What’s taking him so long? He stands, strides over and peeks inside to find Keith’s not in there at all. Did he slip out when he was vlogging? 

“Where did…?” Lance pouts and pulls his communicator out. 

He’s about to send Keith a message when he sees him come out of another store, one they’d visited earlier. Lance waves to get his attention. Keith spots him and ambles on over with his hands in his pockets.

“What were you doing in there?” Lance raises a brow. 

“Nothing. Just price checking,” Keith shrugs, averting his eyes. “Ready to eat?”

“Starving,” Lance nods and hooks his arm into Keith’s as they walk.

They go to the food court which is loud and crowded but smells divine. There’s one place that seems especially popular run by a Galra looking fellow. A lot of the food coming out of there smells delicious and looks like some of Hunk’s food. 

But Lance pulls them over to what looks like a frozen yogurt type stand. He did say he wanted a milkshake and it looks like the closest thing. Lance gets the biggest one they offer while Keith gets something reminiscent of chili nachos from another vendor. Neither tastes anything like they expected but they eat it all regardless. 

“I saw an arcade the last time we were here,” Lance comments as he slurps the milkshake and passes it to Keith. “Want to check it out?”

“Sure,” Keith smirks. “I think I’ve got enough left over for a few games.”

The whole establishment flashes and strobes with light. It’s bright and the both of them can feel the pulsing of the music inside. Almost sounds like a club as opposed to an arcade. But once inside they see it couldn’t be anything but a game store. Consoles and hologram screens galore, packed with all sorts of alien youth. 

Lance wants to try them all if they can. They play a couple of shooting games, on competitive at first but then switching to co-op so they can advance further in the levels. There’s one that reminds Lance of a dancing game he played back on Earth. He remembers being good at it but the one here is a bit harder so by the end of it he’s panting and laughing at his own defeat. 

Keith doesn’t want to give the dancing game a try. Instead, he stands there watching Lance play another round only to get thoroughly trounced yet again. Keith gives him a soft round of applause each time he loses. With a laugh, Lance admits defeat for the last time and steps off the dance platform after a bow.

He’s not sure what prompted it but Lance comes over and wraps his arms around Keith in a big hug. He’s about to ask if something’s wrong when Lance squeezes the air out of him.

“Thanks,” Lance says as he pulls back with a half smile. 

“For?”

“Doing something fun with me,” Lance grins. “I was really worried before. You know, about the prison break. I hate that I have to do it without my samurai watching my back.”

His samurai...

Its there, looking at Lance’s beaming smile in the middle of the arcade, that Keith finally makes a decision on something he’d been debating. He fingers the objects in his pocket nervously but makes himself hold off. Not here. It’s too loud and crowded. And...there are so many people discreetly sneaking suspicious looks at them.

But he should do this soon before he loses his nerve. 

“Lance, I…uh. I have something...to give...uh you,” Keith stumbles on his words. 

“You okay there?” Lance snickers but stops when he sees Keith’s cheeks flush violet. “Keith?”

“It’s not...I’ve never…” Keith tries only to flub again. This is not going how he hoped.

Lance looks around at their audience of perhaps four people before taking Keith’s hand and pulling him out of the arcade. They go a little ways through the mall before finding a bench with no one paying attention to them. Lance gestures to the bench and the both of them take a seat.

“Try again. One sentence at a time?” Lance suggests with a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith takes a deep breath and fiddles with something in his pocket. He swallows back his nerves but maintains the vibrant plum blush on his cheeks as he takes Lance’s hand off his shoulder and presses something into his palm. Looks like a box.

A gift? 

“It’s not a big deal,” Keith says but the nervous look on his face suggests otherwise. 

Lance opens it to find a necklace inside. It’s of a simple design. The charm in the center of the strand is a golden rectangle. It’s flat and hangs lengthwise with an inscription on it in a language Lance can’t read. Looks like Galra script. It’s strung on a black cord that fastens in the back. 

Keith got him a necklace?

When he looks inside he sees that there are actually two. The words are different on both. It’s a set, he realizes. One for both of them.  A token, he realizes suddenly.

“Keith,” Lance awes looking at it. He can’t even come up with a joke.

“Is it alright?” Keith asks, uncertainty in his tone. “I’ve never...bought anything like this before.”

Lance’s face softens with a smile. He pulls them out of the box. 

“You don’t have to wear it if--”

“So, which one’s mine?” Lance asks, holding one in each hand. 

Keith’s face relaxes, relief evident in his eyes. He doesn’t know why he was so worried. Lance is a hopeless romantic so of course he likes it. He’s probably going to brag about it the minute they get back on the ship. That or he’s going to jump Keith’s bones the second they’re alone.

He points to the one in Lance’s right hand to answer his question. Lance unfastens it and clasps it around his neck then scoots close to put Keith’s around his too. Matching tokens. Lance never thought Keith would actually get him one and now he’s stoked to show it off.

“Can’t wait until the others see this,” Lance grins as he takes a selfie with Keith.

“Danske will be thrilled,” Keith smirks. 

“Oh yeah? I’ll show her first then,” Lance nods as he puts his communicator back into his pocket. He fingers the pendant, turning it over in his hold to inspect the script again. “What’s it say?”

“Uh...well,” Keith flushes and his ears droop a little. “I didn’t know what should go on it. So I just asked for our names.”

Lance looks at it again and tries to decipher the different symbols.The beginning symbols are the same and it’s long enough that it probably says Keith’s whole name.  He then looks over the one around Keith’s neck. So that’s what Lance Mcclain looks like in Galra? Looks cool.

“Sorry if that’s a little boring,” Keith shrugs and scratches his neck. 

“No, I think it’s great,” Lance smiles and leans on him a little as he fiddles with the charm. “Now I can carry you with me on the mission. It’s hella romantic.”

Keith smiles sheepishly, incredibly glad he didn’t fuck this up. Lance gives him a nuzzling kiss on the cheek and threads his fingers into Keith’s to hold his hand. 

“Means I got to get the next one right?” Lance waggles his brows. “How do you feel about pierced ears?”

“Not a fan,” Keith admits. 

His ears are sensitive to every little touch. Piercing them might be more painful now than it would have been as a human. He’d probably consider it if another Galra of his species assured him that it wouldn’t hurt too terribly. That it would heal with minimum interference to his ear’s range of movement.

“What were the other things Natsuri mentioned?” Lance asks, wracking his memory. He was incredibly drunk when she listed them off. “I’ll figure something out,” he shrugs, when he can’t remember.

They still have another varga or so of leave before they have to return. There’s still so much work to be done. Keith asks if Lance wants to go back to the arcade but he shakes his head. He’d rather sit there and hold his hand for a while. 

So that’s what they do. 

They watch as people walk by. Families on a shopping excursion together. Groups of friends walking and talking, sharing gossip and news from other quadrants. Couples leaning on one another as they peer into the shop windows. Children who have snuck away from the watchful eyes of their guardians to stick their hands into the fountain to splash. 

After a bit, Lance gives his hand a squeeze.

“Let’s head back,” Lance suggests and then gives him a sly smile. “I want you alone.”

“Oh yeah?” Keith smirks. No objections from him. 

“Definitely,” Lance nods suggestively.

Lance pulls him to his feet and the two of them walk hand in hand back to the transportation hanger so they can get out of the bright lights of the mall and into the comfort of their room.

*****

Of course the minute they get back on the ship they are barricaded at every turn from getting some alone time. 

It starts with a couple of Blades asking Keith about the piloting systems in the new ships they acquired. It’s not that Keith’s particularly knowledgeable about them but he did poke around in them for a few minutes at Kolivan’s request. The design is similar to some of the older shuttles on earth, though the systems are far more advanced.

When that’s over Keith and Lance continue on their way only to be stopped outside the common room. Someone is having difficulty beating a level on Pidge’s game but the Green Paladin is off castle at the moment. They have to find out what happens next to the hero. Will Lance please assist them? Yes, of course he will.

They barely make it out of the common room again only to have Hunk stop them to ask for a favor.

“I swear the next person who-” Keith grumbles under his breath and Lance pats his shoulder with a laugh. They’ll get there. It’s only just down the hall now.

Hunk gestures them into the kitchen past a couple boxes full of jars of something. One of the jars sits on the counter with a spoon in it. Hunk grabs it up and brings it over to them.

“Keith, can you try this and tell me what you taste?” Hunk asks, scooping something from a jar. Looks like syrup.

“I’ll do it,” Lance offers but Hunk pulls the food away.

“You won’t like it, Lance. It’s why I’m asking all the Galra on ship,” Hunk shakes his head. “It was ridiculously sour when I tried it but Danske told me it was a little sweet. Coran says he barely tastes anything at all. I’m trying to figure out how to incorporate it into dishes for everyone to eat.”

“Sour. Yeah,  _ okay _ ,” Lance says with a roll of his eyes.

Lance dips his finger in the jar and pulls a morsel to his mouth. Almost immediately he winces and his mouth puckers at the sourness. Hunk wasn’t kidding. His eyes are already watering.The yellow paladin laughs with an ‘I told you so’ as Lance puts his head under a tap to drink some water to cleanse his mouth.

The last planet they liberated didn’t have much but they gave them a couple dozen boxes of this sap from their trees. It’s apparently edible and a great source of nutrients if you can get it down. It would be rude to return it so Hunk’s trying to find a way to use it so it doesn’t go to waste. 

Keith sighs and takes the spoon. He’s never been big on super sweet things but he gives the syrup a lick. He blinks dumbly at the flavor and licks it a second time. It tastes...really good. It reminds him of molasses cookies. Not too sweet but...He’d throw it on pancakes. Or into coffee. Maybe drizzle it on muffins. Hell, he’d eat this off the floor, it’s fucking delicious. 

“Good? Is it sweet?” Hunk asks, ready to take notes. 

Keith nods taking the entire spoon into his mouth and Lance looks on aghast. After all, barely a drop had him ready to cry and Keith’s licking the spoon clean. 

“It’s great,” Keith nods. “Sweet. Like brown sugar.”

“Hmm...guess I’ll set it up in a dispenser for the Galra to put on their meals if they want,” Hunk sighs. “I’ll try it in a few recipes and see how it goes. Until then, I guess the Galra will be the only ones eating it.”

Keith nods and returns the spoon reluctantly. Kinda wants another taste. Hunk thanks them for helping out and they take off for their room.

They pass by the hanger for the Black Lion and Keith can’t help but turn his head to look inside as they go. Allura’s inside, standing in front of the Lion, head turned down. Is she still thinking about getting a new pilot? Keith wasn’t exactly on board with it when she first mentioned it. In fact...he kind of snapped at her. And then he blew up again at the coalition dinner.

Keith forgets he’s not the only one who lost someone that day. Allura’s been hurting just as much and he hasn’t been helping with his attitude. He stops at the door with a sigh.

Now Keith’s the hold up to fun times...but it’s something he should do.

“Go on ahead, Lance,” Keith sighs. “I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Sure,” Lance nods as Keith turns to go inside the hanger. “Take your time.”

He walks slowly up to Allura. Her eyes are closed and face pensive as if trying to concentrate. She doesn’t even realize he’s there until he clears his throat. It startles her for a second and she turns to face him.

“Keith,” she says, a weak smile. “Something you need? Mission brief updates aren’t for another--”

“It’s not about that,” he shakes his head and looks at the lion. There’s a pause before he speaks again. “Thinking about Shiro?”

Allura’s eyes lid and her head dips. She thumbs her wrist somberly and nods. 

“Yes,” she reveals. “Sometimes...I come in here and...it’s silly. Forget it.”

“No, go ahead,” Keith nods.

“I talk like he’s here. Like he can hear me. Sometimes out loud, other times in my head. Our plans, my thoughts, my...feelings,” she sighs. “Is that strange?”

“No,” Keith shakes his head. “I...do that too.”

They stand there and look on the slumped body of the Black Lion. It looks so...defeated. It’s hard for him to see such a proud thing look like that. Keith looks away and sees Allura’s eyes are welling up. Her lip is trembling too. Shiro was her rock, just as much as he was everyone else's. 

His brows furrow with sympathy. Keith then turns and brings her in for a hug, something he imagines she desperately needs. She accepts the embrace and cries into his jacket. Soft quiet sobs. 

“I miss him, so much,” she hiccups. 

“I know. Me too,” he nods and rubs her back. “I won’t stop looking. We’ll find him.”

“Thank you,” she whispers and pulls away to wipe her face. 

“I’m sorry for yelling before,” he tells her. “You're right. We _should_ consider a new pilot soon. Temporarily, until Shiro gets back.”

“That sounds reasonable,” she smiles. Her eyes blink wide while looking at his neck. “The charm you’re wearing…”

“Uh,” Keith responds, his ears going flat.

“It suits you,” she smiles. “Did you know Galran script has over thirty thousand characters? You must have had a talented linguist etch that for you.”

“Why do you say that?” he asks, looking down at it. 

“Because this way,” she starts and turns the charm. “It says ‘Lance McClain’ but when turned upside down…” she pauses and turns it before continuing. “It roughly translates to ‘Unyielding devotion for’.”

His face flushes a deeper purple at that. Unyielding devotion? Unyielding devotion for Lance McClain. 

“A common phrase. Like I said...it suits you,” she smiles. “Thank you for coming to see me, Keith. Much appreciated. But...isn’t there someone else you’d rather see?”

There is and he smiles at her hint. He adjusts his jacket and pauses before leaving. He reaches into his inside pocket and pulls something for her. Taking her hand in his, he places the object.

“A book?” she questions.

“Shiro gave it to me when I was ten...He even wrote an inscription on the inside cover,” Keith reveals. “It’s...the only thing I have of his. Maybe you should hold onto it for a while.”

Allura’s eyes go wide with surprise before falling on the tattered book. She opens it to the inside and gazes over Shiro’s handwriting. A smile reappears on her face as she brings it to her chest. It almost looks like she's going to start crying again.

“No harm will come to it whilst in my possession,” she promises. “And I look forward to discussing the plot with you after I finish.”

“Can’t wait,” he nods with a smile of his own before turning and leaving. 

*****

Lance decides to make a quick trip back to the kitchen while Keith talks with Allura. He doesn’t imagine it will be a long conversation so he hurries along so he’ll be able to meet Keith back in their room. Kitchen’s empty. So no one will notice if he lifts a jar of that syrup stuff. 

Keith looked ready to lick the jar clean himself and Lance couldn’t help but imagine the fun applications for such a tasty treat. 

“Oh, Lance. Forget something?” Hunk asks as he returns from the hallway with a couple Galra in tow. He recognizes a few but Danske is the most energetic in her waving at him. 

“Nope,” Lance smiles suspiciously as he slides a little jar into his back pocket and pulls a fruit from the bowl on the counter. “Just getting a snack.”

“This is the stuff guys,” Hunk gestures to the open jar. “Try it.”

While the others take a little Lance attempts to shimmy his way out. 

“Hey, Lance. What’s that around your neck?” Hunk points out. “Don’t think I’ve seen you wear that before.”

“Oh, I got it today,” Lance beams proudly and fiddles with it a little. “It’s--”

Danske drops the spoon she’s holding and practically screams as she rushes him. She takes the charm in hand and looks it over. She exclaims something in a language Lance doesn’t understand and the other Galra all lean in to look too. They ooh and ahh and Lance can’t help but bask in the attention.

“Cool right?” Lance grins.

“It’s...it’s…” Danske clenches her fist and dramatically gestures to the air as she pouts. “It’s not fair! Alone forever, that’s me. All the handsome men get taken.”

“Did the son of Ghaythra give this to you? It has his name on it,” points out another.

“He must be  _ very  _ fond of you. It’s well crafted,” an older Blade comments. “Oh, the flipped inscription. He must have told them it was a token.”

“Flipped?” Lance raises a brow in confusion before taking it in hand and inspecting it. Doesn’t look any different to him.

“Oh my!” Danske trills with excitement. Her frown disappears and transforms into a gleeful smile. “Would you like to know what it says?”

“Uh yeah, since I can’t read it,” Lance nods. 

Altogether it more or less translates to an ‘unwavering passion for Keith Kogane’. Lance feels his face heat up at that information. That’s...certainly true. At this point in time, he can’t imagine anyone could tear him away from Keith. Nothing could deter him. 

“Though how ‘passion’ is written can be translated to ‘adoration’, ‘faith’, or even ‘devotion’. It’s just a matter of preference honestly,” Danske reveals with a sigh. “I’m incredibly jealous.”

“Think Kolivan will let me wear it on the prison op?” Lance wonders. 

“He better!” Danske answers, almost aghast at the idea of it. “If not just wear it under your armor. I would fight anyone, man, woman or child, if they tried to take a token from me.” She then lowers her voice to a begrudging mutter, “if I ever get one.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it youngling,” says the older Blade. “I imagine Kolivan will be thrilled when he sees it.”

Thrilled? Kolivan? Lance isn’t sure he’s even seen that grumpy Galra smile. Not even once. Why would something like that excite the old guy? Well, everyone’s got their thing he supposes. Could be a secret romantic. His dad was big on soap operas...

Regardless of what the leader of the Blades thinks, he’s wearing it. They’ll have to pull it from his cold dead corpse before he’ll give it up. Lance turns it over in his fingers again as he looks over the Galra script.

Unwavering passion. Makes him break out into a grin.

It couldn’t be more perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	29. Chapter 29

 

Keith beat him to the room it seems. When Lance walks in beaming Keith’s already stripped off his shirt and kicked off his boots. Laying back in the bed with his digital copy of White Fang. His token shimmering bright and golden against his purple skin.

“Allura doing okay?” Lance inquires.

“She’ll be fine,” Keith nods as he swipes a page. “What took you?”

“Went to pick up this,” Lance says as he pulls the little jar from his pocket and Keith’s eyes light up. “Thought you might like that,” he snickers.

Lance climbs onto the bed, over Keith’s body and sits firmly on his pelvis. Keith’s abandoned the book to the side and his hands slide up to rest on Lance’s thighs. Lance unscrews the top and gives it a smell. It smells super sweet but his taste buds know otherwise. He dips a finger in, coating it, before pulling it back out and offering it to Keith.

Keith smirks, sits up, and engulfs the whole finger up to Lance’s knuckle with a hum. Teeth grazing skin and tongue swirling to get it all.

“Tastes good,” Keith sighs. “I’d eat it off the floor.”

“I was thinking more like...me?” Lance grins and Keith slowly licks his lips with an agreeable smile.

Lance passes the jar over to Keith and pulls his jacket off, tossing it aside. The shirt soon joins it. He reaches over and dips his finger in yet again but this time he smears the syrup onto his neck. His collarbones. His chest. Sticky and sweet.

“This is gonna be messy,” Lance chuckles with a cheeky grin.

Fine with Keith; Lance looks great when he’s a mess.

Keith places the jar on the side table and sits up, grasping for Lance’s sides as he trails a tongue up his chest. Lapping the sap from Lance’s pecs. Laving his hot tongue over his nipples smeared with sweetness. Lance sighs and threads fingers into Keith’s hair to guide him.

Once he cleans it all off him, Lance does it yet again. This time he spreads it down his stomach so Keith leans him back until he’s laid out on the bed and laps it off inch by inch. Licks further down as his fingers work to open Lance’s pants. Pulls them down to reveal Lance’s hard cock to which the owner trails a syrupy finger down the length with a grin.

Keith sinks his mouth on that cock with a heady sigh. Tongue sliding against skin to get all the sweetness. Lance’s fingers still pull on his hair gently, directing him into going faster and he acquiesces.

“K-Keith, can I...I want…” Lance starts but tilts his head back with a gasp as Keith takes him deep.

“You can whenever you want,” Keith reminds him. “I don’t need a warning Lance.”

“N-No...I was...gonna ask,” Lance says, taking a deep breath so he can get it out. “I...want to...to fuck you tonight.”

Lance wants to fuck him? No objections here. He’s been feeling the mood strike him lately. After doing Lance every couple of days he’s ready for a switch. They haven’t done it that way since...well right after the change. Feels like eons ago.

“You’ll have to get me ready,” Keith tells him and lets go of his cock so he can take the rest of his clothes off.

“I can do it,” Lance smirks as he sits up. Keith’s done it to him enough times. He thinks he’s got it down by now.

Keith shucks off his pants and boxers while Lance retrieves the lube. It looks like Keith’s getting ready to assume the position on his knees but Lance clears his throat.

“Uh, can you lay on your back?” he asks with a flush on his cheeks. “Last time...I didn’t get to see your face.”

Lance looks so shy all of a sudden and it’s incredibly endearing. How can he say no to such a request? Keith chuckles a little but nods before changing position to lay out on the bed. He watches with interest as Lance gets back on the bed, between Keith’s legs, his fingers slick with lubricant.

“Start by--”

“I know how,” Lance says, almost pouting.

He braces a palm against Keith’s hip, squeezing at the flesh there before gingerly pressing a slender finger in. It goes in easy. Keith’s always so relaxed when it comes to this. Lance slides in and out slowly, pushing and pulling as Keith sighs.

When they started this...Lance would have balked at attempting such a thing. Would have had no clue how to start or proceed. Hell, he probably wouldn’t have known lube was even necessary for a good time. And now he’s fingering Keith like he’s always known how.

A minute later Lance pulls out, adds more lubricant and presses an additional finger in. Keith shivers as it enters and lets out a hissing moan. His cock twitches at the filling feeling. Lance takes that cock in his other hand and strokes as his fingers curl into Keith, eliciting another moan.

“L-Lance,” he gasps and licks his lips. He’s feeling impatient. “D-Do it now.”

“No, gotta do three,” Lance tells him. “You said so.”

Damn. He listens too well.

Lance removes his fingers and adds the third. Keith bites back a panting whine as Lance leisurely thrusts them in. This slow pace is destroying Keith. He can feel each caress of fingers as they drag and press with perfect clarity.

“L-Lance,” he rasps again and this time he throws his pride out the window to beg. “Please...now...p-please.”

Lance never thought he’d hear that coming out of Keith’s mouth.

And God does he love that look on his face. Flushed and panting at the stimulation Lance is providing. Keith’s hands clench in the sheets and his teeth bite down on his bottom lip to keep from gasping louder as the thrusting gains speed. Lance adjusts position slightly so he can keep fingering and lower his mouth onto Keith’s swelling cock for a taste of him.

“Lance!” Keith groans at the new contact, equal parts pleasure and frustration at being denied what he’s asking for.

Lance removes himself from Keith to slide a condom on. It takes no time at all and he’s back between his legs in moments. He hooks under Keith’s legs with his arms so he can lift his hips up to get better access. Slowly, like before, Lance presses into Keith’s slick hole. One inch at a time. Except this time he gets to see Keith’s perfect face as he does so.

Gasps and heady moans erupt out of the both of them. And they only get louder once Lance starts thrusting. Mostly on Keith’s end. In a slow regular rhythm, Lance presses in and out, leaning forward and clutching tight to Keith’s legs. He can’t keep himself from gasping with each roll of his hips and he doesn’t bother trying to hold back. Neither does Keith, who’s reeling from the thrusts.

The one thing he doesn’t want to do is close his eyes. He wants to see Keith. Wants to see his perfect face as he pleases him. Wants to see him in the throes of ecstasy.

Lance lets his legs go and grabs tight onto his hips, using them as leverage to get in deeper and go faster. That’s when he hits it. Just the right spot. Keith immediately cries out with a delicious moan.

“That’s--” Keith pants. His face is flushed beyond all knowing. “I’m--” He hits it again and Keith shakes with another cry. If Lance keeps this up he’ll get off with just his dick. He won’t even have to touch himself.

Keith manages to open his eyes after that last shock of pleasure rides through his body and sees Lance looking down on him. He expected heady, lustful eyes as Lance plows him but instead, they look soft. Adoring.

Loving.

“Get over...here...and kiss...me,” Keith manages through his gasps.

Lance moves in, bows his head so that his lips meet Keith’s for warm panting kisses. Slower, more rhythmic thrusts as he gently kisses Keith. Their tokens clink together a couple times, reminding them of their presence. After those kisses, Lance sits back again and starts going to town on Keith’s weak spot again, making him gasp and moan each time.

“You look...perfect,” Lance comments as he continues. The compliment has the desired effect and makes Keith’s cheeks turn a deep plum in response.

“I...told you...not to say...shit like that,” Keith gasps with each thrust. “F-Fuck, Lance...I-”

Keith knows he’s going to shout. It feels so good, how can he not? But he’s been trying to be more discreet. The last time they did this, the Blades on board didn’t stop giving them knowing grins for a week. It’s distracting. So as of two weeks ago, Keith’s been making sure he muffles Lance during their more enthusiastic romps.

He makes a move to cover his own mouth but Lance grabs his wrists and pins them down.

“No,” Lance pants as he increases his speed. “I want...to hear you. I want...to see your face.”

Lance taking charge is...it’s intoxicating to see. He tries to hold back but damn Lance with his perfect aim, even when fucking him senseless. Lance’s hips renew their rocking pace, slamming Keith’s ass and nailing his prostate. Three more thrusts like that one and Keith cries out, come spurting out onto his stomach.

It’s better than Lance ever thought it would be. Keith’s body slick with sweat and semen. His cheeks dark with a flush that travels down his neck. Chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath. And those eyes...golden and lidded and looking back into Lance’s.

“Don’t s-stop, moron,” Keith pants. “I...want yours too.”

Lance shakes his head to get his focus back and nods. He finishes after a couple more thrusts, his eyes only ever leaving Keith’s to eye the token around his neck. Lance McClain. Does his say something too? Other than the name?

When done he lets go of Keith’s wrists to trail his fingers across Keith’s stomach and through the fluids. Laps his fingertips clean with a heady sigh. He doesn’t take too much as it makes him dizzy and he still has work to do.

“Now this I’d eat off the floor,” Lance grins as his face gets warm. “Promise to give me a little before I leave on the mission?”

“You’ll have bad breath,” Keith warns him.

“I brush my teeth,” Lance answers indignantly and Keith smirks.

It won’t matter, the Galra will smell it anyway.

*****

The time has come. Lance takes a deep breath before the mirror.

He should be excited. Super cool mission with really strong allies. He’s a key player too. And on top of it all, he gets to wear the uniform. It’s way cooler looking than his paladin armor. A lot more maneuverability even if there isn’t nearly as much padding. Should go great.

Maybe if he goes and throws up he’ll feel less queasy about it.

By all accounts, he shouldn’t be worried. He’s gone over the mission specs a couple of times with Korok. He’s the only other Galra he’s familiar with that’s going, but he’s on a different infiltration team from Lance. He really will be alone with a bunch of strangers.

“Worried?” Keith asks from the bathroom door.

“Who me?” Lance tries to grin and strike a fearless pose. It falters within seconds. “A little. Is it obvious?”

“Yes,” Keith nods and gestures him in for a hug. Lance immediately takes him up on it. “Just relax.”

“Yeah, relax,” Lance repeats. Like it’s that easy.

“Tell me the mission specs again,” Keith says as he releases him.

Morxion-6. High-security prison for traitors to the Galra Empire. Jail for over five hundred people who openly challenged the Galra authority in the form of organized resistances throughout the galaxy. Lance was given a number of dossiers of specific freedom fighter leaders that they’d like to get to join the coalition. They could rally more troops with their word alone so they are invaluable to their cause.

Lance has two missions.

Like before he’s to do an in-depth scan of the facility and transfer the files to each and every Blade in the mission. He’s already set up Blue to transfer the data, so no worries about hangups there. Afterwards, he’ll stash his lion on a nearby asteroid with the shields up. He can’t say he isn’t a little worried about someone taking it but...what else can he do?

Part two is what has his pants in a bunch.

He’s to join infiltration team C and do whatever the commander tells him. Not limited to but including shooting sentries (robot and otherwise), shutting down primary power, and destroying the communications relay.  After that, they’ll have about two quintents before anyone realizes it’s been attacked and they have to book it out of there. Should give them time enough to release all the prisoners and transport them back to the castle. Allura’s already been briefed and ready to provide them with a wormhole for transport every six hours.

“Sounds like you’ve got it all down,” Keith smirks.

“Yeah,” Lance nods and tries to smile again, this time it comes through. “Yeah, I guess so. What are you going to do?”

“Checking out some new coordinates for Shiro. Since you’re going to be gone practically two days I set up some rations in Red for the trip,” Keith explains. “It’ll keep me busy.”

“You’re not worried then? About me?” Lance asks nervously.

He is but the truth isn’t what’s going to help Lance right now.

“Nope, you’ve got this,” Keith tells him and gives Lance’s token a flick with his finger. “Plus, it’s not like you’re really alone, are you?”

“I...no. I’m not,” Lance beams and suddenly he feels a boost to his morale. “You’re right. Of course. I’ve totally got this. As long as I come back looking better than you did, which shouldn’t be hard ‘cause you were a mess, then I’ll call it a success.”

That sounds more like Lance. Brimming with confidence. He’s even starting to check himself out in the mirror, shooting winks and finger guns at himself with a grin. Bowing and thanking everyone for all their praise and adulation.

“Alright, enough,” Keith rolls his eyes. “Did you want to blow me before going or not?”

Lance checks his watch. They’ve got two vargas, more than enough time to do so and come down from the high. Maybe even cuddle a bit afterward. That’s all Lance wants to do after a taste anyway, just rub his hands and face all over Keith’s body. It’s so soft and smells so good.

“You know it,” Lance grins and follows Keith out for a little fun.

*****

“Facility scanned, sending the layout now,” Lance says into the coms as the data transfers.

“Good work,” Kolivan tells him. He’s back at the castle for this mission but Thace is supposedly running one of the teams. “Team leaders report status.”

“Team A. Affirmative. Schematics received,” a woman answers.

“Team B, reporting. Same here,” says a deep voice.

“Team C. Likewise,” Thace answers as well.

“Good,” Kolivan says. “Paladin Lance, rendezvous at checkpoint Delta and join team A. Then wait for further orders.”

“Understood,” Lance nods and get right on it. Sets up his mask and opens the cockpit.

With bayard in hand he exits the lion and once he’s out of her range the shields go up automatically. Good. After a couple of jet boosts off of varying asteroids he arrives at the location to find four other Blades waiting.

“Ready on your orders,” he nods.

Without the layout, they’d never have managed to find an access point. It’s the equivalent of a trash chute, made for jettisoning waste into space. Sometimes that waste is uncooperative prisoners and that image makes Lance shiver a little. They can hack their way in through there and work their way through the facility. But it’s not close to the main power room.

They’ll have to cross the prison to get there.

“Rely on stealth,” she tells them all. “Do not engage unless absolutely necessary.”

How will he know if it’s necessary?

“Our objective is simply the power. Once the power is off Team B will take down the officers inside,” she explains. “Team C will disrupt the relay. After that, we will return power to the prison so we can open the doors and free the prisoners. Ready?”

The lower ranking Blades all salute her and Lance is quick to mimic them.

“Initiate Lance,” she says looking directly at him. “Stay to the back and provide cover fire should the need arise.”

“Yes ma’am,” he nods and grips his rifle tighter.

“Then let’s move,” she says and turns to her coms. “Team A moving now.”

To the trash chute they go. One of the initiates, a lizard-like male by the name of Regris, plugs into the panel and swipes a few buttons. After a moment the shaft opens and they all climb on up.

Thankfully, the chute leads to an unguarded room. It’s all trash and used supplies. There’s a couple of bags that look vaguely like bodies but Lance tries not to think about it too much. He just follows the lead of the others but stays back a little to cover them.

The schematics lead them to a ventilation shaft in the room. It’s big enough that they can all shimmy through it provided they go one at a time. Before taking it the team leader reports their location and moves. Seems like pretty smooth sailing so far, regardless of Lance’s nerves.

But good luck can’t last forever. The only place the shaft lets out is into a room full of robot sentries. No officers. After studying their pattern for a moment they exit the shaft carefully rounding bends and such to avoid being seen. They quickly head down a number of halls, narrowly avoiding more groups of sentries. So far, no shots fired.

Man, if he were Keith he’d have destroyed five robots by now.

Into another shaft but they have to wait for Regris to open it up for them. Lance doesn’t like it, being out and exposed like this. He gets it open but only long enough for two people to get through. It then shuts again leaving Lance and another Blade out in the hall. The other lizard person, a girl called Forgsi.

“It’s not responding to the codes,” Regris alerts them from inside. “The workaround will take me five minutes.”

“We don’t have that kind of time,” the leader says. “You two, take this route. Meet us there.”

She sends them an update on their schematics and Lance looks it over quickly. His heart starts to race now that there’s a little hiccup in the plan. That’s quite the long way as a two-person group.

“Let’s hurry,” Lance nods and the girl joins him as they progress.

He’s never had to strain this hard to hear every little sound before. Over the pounding of his heart, it’s amazing he can hear anything at all. He leans at corners, listens for footsteps and, if he nears none, peeks around them before signaling them to move on. Fewer sentries now which initially comes as a relief to Lance.

That is until Forgsi grabs him by the shoulder.

“Look out!” she says and pulls him back from a grid of light he barely saw. “It’s a security measure.”

“What the?” Lance blinks at it perplexed.

“It’ll cut any organic matter into little slices,” she says. “Though, it doesn’t seem set up to an alarm. Curious.”

There’s a bloodstain underneath the lasers as if it recently had been put to use. Perhaps they let some prisoners think they’ll escape and just...let them run into things like this. Then send the sentries to pick up the remains. Brutal. And he almost ran right into it. It makes him blanch at the thought.

“It’s right through our path,” Lance mutters as he looks over the floorplans.

“Someone’s coming down the hall,” she alerts him. “Behind these alcoves!”

They hide in the shadows as the steps get closer. A Galra officer. Lance holds his breath as they stop in front of the lasers. They swipe a few commands on their wrist device, speak a few words in another language and the trap blinks away so they can walk through. How long that will last though...should they...follow? There’s no way he won’t hear them approach. But...his orders are to avoid engaging in combat. From their demeanor, it doesn’t look like anyone knows they’re there yet.

The decision is taken from him when Forgsi jumps from the shadows. Her feet don’t even touch the ground before her tail wraps around the Officer’s neck and constricts tight. Her tail twists and she kicks off him, snapping his neck with a pop. His body drops to the floor with hardly a sound.

Holy crap she killed him like it was nothing.

“What are you--”

“He has a device we can use to spot the traps and disarm them,” she reveals and pulls the thing off his arm and onto her own. “Hide the body in the alcove.”

“Are you nuts?” Lance asks but drags the corpse over to the shadows as per her order, since she is a Blade which is more than he is at current. “What if he’s supposed to report in?”

She hums a little at different tones, lower and lower until getting to one that matches the Officer’s voice. She says a few commands like ‘reporting in’ and ‘all’s clear’. It’s...startlingly accurate. Then she says ‘let’s move’ in her stolen voice.

The traps disarm easily after this point and they make it to the next point. Regris and the team leader are at the shaft waiting. They open it and the two of them rejoin their group.

“We need to hurry,” Lance tells the leader. “An Officer barred our way and...well, they’re not getting up but chances are they’ll find the body before long.”

“You were told not to engage,” she reminds them and Lance shoots an eye at Forgsi. “No matter, let’s move.”

They’re almost to the main power room. The vent even has an opening into the room. They peek in and the leader huffs with annoyance. It’s higher than she’d like. Plus, two officers and about a dozen sentries. And the officers are ridiculously close to their control panels. It would take seconds to put the whole base on alert.

Once those alarms go off not even the vents will be safe.

“Initiate Lance,” the leader whispers. “How good are you with that weapon?”

“The rifle?” Lance asks and smirks. “They don’t call me the ninja-sharpshooter for nothing.”

“Can you hit that?” she asks and directs his attention to a small blinking blue light.

“Yeah,” Lance rolls his eyes but she can’t see that for the mask.

“While dropping two hundred feet from a vent?” she adds.

“Uh-”

“Because if you say you can and you can’t, we all die when we reach the bottom,” she says. “Because we’ll break our legs and they’ll shoot us. And that’s the happy version of our failure. So, can you do it?”

Lance swallows and looks at the light again. No bigger than an orange. He’s hit smaller targets from further away. He returns a level gaze to her and nods.

“I can do it,” he says and she turns to her coms.

“Team A reporting. Beginning power outage in T-minus twenty dobashes,” she relays. “You’re going in first Initiate Lance. We will follow. Regris, Forsi, formation Beta.”

Lance nods and readies himself to jump as she counts down. He has to will his heart to slow. Takes deep calming breaths. Three. Two. One. Regris pops the grate and when Lance jumps down everything goes in slow motion.

Raises the rifle sights. Holds his breath. Aim.

Fire.

It nails the console, shorting out the lights in the center and suddenly his descent doesn’t feel so speedy. In fact, is he descending at all? Doesn’t feel like he’s moving. Oh! The gravity! He shot out the gravity for the whole ship!

Before the officers can get their bearings they’re floating up. Once they realize what’s happening they try for the consoles but can’t reach them. Regris and Forgsi go for one, bounding off the vent and using the momentum to tackle him before he can draw a weapon. They’re using their tails as lethal weapons to crush his throat.

Lance aims for the bots since he’s more amenable to shooting something without a heartbeat. One, two, three, headshots in a row. The force from each round shoots him backward until he hits a wall. Good, gives him something to brace against. He takes aim down the barrel again just in time to see someone aiming back.

Crap.

There's searing pain in his side from the shot. It only grazed him because he pushed off the wall at the last second. If he hadn’t moved...well, he’d be breathing through a hole in his chest. The officer fires another shot and this one tears through the hood and mask, burning his cheek with a shout. He’s aiming out a third one when the team leader crashes into him with her luxite blade.

“Thanks,” Lance manages as he draws his rifle back up. He picks off the other sentries as Regris goes for the console.

“Power outage in five, four, three, two…” Regris counts down and all the lights go out.

“Part one complete,” the team leader calls into the coms. “Proceeding to shut down sentries. Standby.”

“Facility-wide sentry shut down. Commence,” Forgsi huffs in her deep voice and the computer confirms the request. The last sentry drops like a ragdoll before Lance can peg it.

“Sentries are down. Team B commence operation,” the leader orders. “Regris, see if you can get the gravity back on.”

“Already working on it,” Regris taps and swipes.

“Initiate Lance. Push off there and come down, so the landing won’t be so rough on you,” the team leader gestures.

He does as she says, cupping the injury at his side. All things considered, it isn’t that bad. Laser fire wound. There’s isn’t even blood, just a horrible raised burn and shiny blistering. God it fucking hurts. His cheek caught a nice bit of heat too. He looks into the reflective surface of a wall and eyes the mark.

Ugh, nasty. There’s a nice little layer of skin burned off with a blister left in the center. It may be a little vain to think it, but he hopes the healing pods back on the castle can clear it up. He didn’t work this hard his whole life, doing skincare routines since he turned twelve, to end up with an ugly scar. He barely grazes it and winces at the pain.

“Don’t touch it,” she warns him as she takes off her mask. She has golden cat eyes like Keith. Well, one golden cat eye. There’s a cut through the other and it’s been replaced with something glassy. “You’ll introduce infection. Once the op is over, the secondary team will come in. They’ll treat it.”

“Good,” Lance sighs as the gravity slowly kicks in. His feet touch the ground and he takes a seat over on a chair. “It looks awful.”

“With any luck, it’ll scar,” she says with a chuckle. “They build character.”

“If it does scar I hope it’s the only one I get...I’m enough of a character,” Lance jokes.

Team B calls in, all officers are slain or subdued. After that Team C gets started on dismantling the radio relay. Before long it’s disconnected and Team A turns the power back on. From the control room, Thace's team disarms all the booby traps and downloads all the files they have on hand for every prisoner ever interred there in the past five hundred years.

The secondary team finally makes it in with Kolivan joining them. The upper command of the Blades discuss how to break up the work to make it easier for all involved and in the meantime Lance gets his wounds cleaned and bandaged. They give him a shot of something that takes the pain away and honestly it's the best he’s felt in months.

“So is this all for us? Or is there more?” Lance asks as they bandage his cheek.

“Kolivan is handing out assignments,” the medic tells him. “You’ll likely be given a list of prison cells, passcodes to open them, and a handful of assistants to help move the more injured personnel to a transport vessel.”

“Sounds easier than what came before,” Lance admits.

His eyes wander down to the communicator in his hands. He wants to call Keith and let him know how it’s going but...he shoves it in his pocket as Thace gestures him over. He’ll call him as soon as they’re done freeing the prisoners.

*****

Lance is so good at the upbeat and rousing speech; it should be his job like all the time. It’s a little tedious having to say the same thing every time he opens a new cell but he can’t get over the faces he gets to see.

Most of them never thought they’d ever see the outside of a cage again. They’ve been beaten, tortured, and starved for so long that most of them look like shadows of their former selves. So a good number of them don’t trust him initially when he says they’re free to go. They think it’s a trick. But with some convincing and a little shouldering them all the way to the transport bay, they eventually believe.

He’s had people cry on him, kiss his cheeks, hold him close and everything in between. Some are terrified of what awaits them out there while others are already asking where they can sign up to fight. Even prisoners that have been there for ten years are eager to get started. Lance assures them that they can definitely help but maybe get something to eat first? And maybe some medical attention? Some of these guys are so thin they look ready to snap in half.

He’s on his thirtieth one and he’s got it all down by now. And it all starts with a little look at the dossier.

**_Name: Unknown  
Race: Galra_ **

Not uncommon. He’s come across a couple of those already. Two of them were captured Galra officers that defected. One of them is still willing to join the fight. Gotta hand it to them, the Galra have tenacity.

“Let’s see, what else,” he hums as he scans the data.

_**Threat Level: Alpha** _

Oh, now that’s a little different. The only other Alpha threat level he’s come across is a huge alien guy that looked like the Thing from fantastic four. Means this one is well trained, dangerous even without a weapon, and likely have valuable information. Lance types in the code and steps into the poorly lit room once it opens.

They’re sitting, bolted to the ground in shackles with short chains. Long wild and tangled hair, matted from years of being imprisoned without care. They barely even move when Lance enters the room. Only enough to tilt their head up to look at him through knotted locks.

“I’m Lance, the paladin of the Blue Lion of Voltron,” he starts and chuckles. “Though, uh, in this outfit I hardly look it.”

They say nothing but return their gaze to the floor.

“Working with the Blades of Marmora, we’ve taken over the prison temporarily and are freeing its inmates. That means you,” he smiles and taps a few buttons. The restraints click off. “You’re free to join us in our fight against the empire if you want. If not, after a nights rest and a full stomach, we’ll drop you off on the planet of your choice with a pack of supplies.”

They still don’t move but a rumbling chuckle echoes throughout the room. A woman.

“This is the best trick yet,” she rasps, her throat dry and hoarse.

When’s the last time she had water? The dossier says her last meal was weeks ago. All she’s had since are Galra supplements.

“Trick?” he repeats.

“I won’t tell you anything, cur,” she coughs and tries to stand. “You’ll regret...setting me free.”

Tries is a good word for it because she wavers and shakes before falling back to the ground. Her legs are too weak. She likely hasn’t walked in...a long time. She tries again and just falls with a groan.

She’s in no position to fight, let alone walk or make threats. Lance puts down the datapad and takes a knee next to her, attempting to lift her onto his shoulder.

“Don’t touch me, lying filth!” she growls, baring sharp teeth. “I’ll...eviscerate you.”

“Did you miss the part when I introduced myself with a debonair smile as the blue paladin of Voltron?” he asks as he lifts her. She weighs practically nothing even though she’s easily a foot taller than him.

“No...I didn’t miss it,” she croaks and coughs. “I just know...you’re lying. You stink of Galra.”

“Well, that’s probably because I sleep with one on a regular basis so...thanks for that,” Lance sighs and shifts a little before starting them towards the door.

“What’s--” she starts to ask but her eyes go wide.

For a weak prisoner, she has some strength. She shoves her way out of his hold and with wobbly legs back up until she’s against a wall for support. In her hand is the strand with the golden token on it.

“Hey, give that back!” Lance shouts, finally starting to get a little annoyed.

“How? Where did you find this?” she asks, her hand shaking it. “Where?!”

“It was bought at a swap moon,” Lance answers and takes a step closer.

“No! The name!” she almost shrieks. “How did you find out _this_ name?!”

“What?” he asks, confused.

She looks at it with wide-eyed fear, like she’s in agonizing pain.

“Keith…” she whispers as if it hurts to say it. 

She knows Keith--

“Oh my...god…” Lance steps back and covers his mouth in shock.

His throat’s gone dry. He barely breathes because all the air’s left his lungs. This can’t be real. She can’t be real. But there she is, standing right in front of him. Lance swallows before whispering:

“You’re...Ghaythra...You’re Keith’s mom...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the chapter? Give it a kudos! Really like it? Leave a comment or rec it to a friend!  
> Don't know what to say? Tell me your favorite part. Or your favorite line. Leave nothing but hearts. Anything to show you appreciate the work will do. Writers love that stuff and I'm no exception!
> 
> Also, if you really like Voltron stuff and want more, check out my other fics. Tell me what you think of them! If I'm stagnating on one maybe YOU can be the one to inspire me to keep writing!


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last you'll get for a while. Super long hiatus time.

The air in the room is thick enough to choke on and Lance is dangerously close to doing so. He still can’t believe his eyes but now that he’s taking it all in...she could be no one else. It’s really her.

Ghaythra Kogane.

Twenty years. She’s been here for nearly twenty years! Must have been captured somehow. Then held prisoner and tortured for information all this time. He would have recognized her sooner if she didn’t look like she just came out of a gulag. Gaunt cheeks. Thin frame. A matted mess of hair that nearly reaches her knees. God, it’s like looking at a weak and tired Keith.

And now she looks terrified to boot.

“This...this is a trick,” she repeats, trying not to believe it. “To get me...it’s to get me talking. It won’t work!”

“No, no it’s not a trick,” Lance tells her, softening his voice to a calming tone. He waves his empty hands, to show he means no harm, but he’s not sure it helps.

“But then...they _know_ !” she says eye wide and in a panic. She’s not listening to him at all. “They _know_ about him! The empire! He’s--Don’t hurt him!” she begs but then bares her teeth again to growl, “I’ll...I’ll kill you. If you’ve hurt--”

“Listen!” he interrupts with a shout but then lowers his volume. “No one’s hurt him...so let's calm down.”

“Who...are you...really?” Ghaythra asks, eyes narrowed suspiciously. That or she’s trying to focus and failing. “Your uniform...is a Blade’s but…”

“My name is Lance and let's call me a Blade tryout for now. I’m a human from Earth and I pilot the blue lion of Voltron,” he explains and shows her the blue bayard before putting it away. “The lion was found in a cave in the middle of a dessert by your son.”

“He...found it too?” she whispers to herself and winces while touching her head. Like the memory of it hurts. Her eyes search the room as if she’s trying to think, trying to absorb the information. “But he’s...Keith’s just a baby. He...How many years...Is Keith…?”

“He’s alive, of course,” he tells her and takes another step closer.

“Alive,” she repeats. She almost looks relieved before she looks to the exit, her eyes determined. With her palms pressed to the wall, she takes two steps toward it. “I have to--Earth. Screw your insipid war. Take me...home,” she pants and nearly collapses after four steps.

She hits her knees with a groan and Lance gets down there in time to catch her exhausted body in his arms. So frail. Ghaythra’s eyes flutter as she tries to stay awake but already she’s used what little energy she has. The token slips from her grasp but Lance lets it hit the ground in favor of her not face planting into the floor. He can pick it up in a minute.

“Relax,” Lance tells her.

“If...you’re lying to me about him,” she rasps and tries to squeeze his arm as a threat. It’s barely strong enough to bruise but she’s trying. “If you’re lying I’ll--”

“I don’t doubt that you’d crush me into powder and sprinkle me on your oatmeal,” Lance chuckles nervously.

“You’re damn right...I would,” she affirms as she tries to scowl but it comes out like a pained grimace.

She looks so much like him right now with that frown on her face. Twenty years apart and somethings are just...maybe it’s genetic, that look. Keith looks like that when in bitter anguish too and Lance wishes it wasn’t something he could recognize as a familial trait. This family has been through too much.

Ghaythra passes out in his hold, unable to keep herself awake a second longer. Lance checks her pulse just in case but all’s fine. Just tired. Who can blame her?

Before doing anything else he takes his token from the floor and clips it back into place. He even tucks it into his uniform so it doesn’t set off her panic again. After that, he does a quick look over of the dossier to make sure it’s his last one for the day. Thankfully it is. If it wasn't he'd have to pass the rest off to someone else. His eye catches a little bit of data on her sheet.

Personal effects: one.

Lance thinks he knows exactly what it is. He gently directs her body to the floor for a second to open the wall unit in the room. After tapping in the code it pops open to reveal its contents.

Just like he thought. Lance reaches in and scoops out a worn golden bangle with etched inscriptions.

They kept her token just to show her what she couldn’t have. Maybe promising she could have it back if she cooperated. Probably even held it just out of her reach as they interrogated her. The symbol of her love for her human paramour stored not even ten feet from her shackled spot. For almost two decades. How cruel.

He brings it back over to her body and slips it on her wrist. She doesn’t stir as he hefts her up in his arms and makes the trek to the medics. She weighs so little. Almost as much as Keith. He’ll get her some fluids, maybe a nutrient shot, anything to help her out before taking her to his lion. It’ll take him an hour to get her to the castle taking the long way but he can’t wait for the wormhole in four more vargas.

She’s been away from Keith long enough.

Once at the medical tent, he lays her on a cot and the nurse of sorts gives her a shot. They don’t appear to recognize her. Must be the emaciation and terrible hair. He’s glad they don’t. Lance doesn’t want any holdups on getting her to the castle as soon as possible.

He manages to wake her long enough to drink some water. The whole time her eyes are open she grasps his arm as tight as she can, not willing to let him escape. Not that he’s trying to shake her but it is starting to hurt a little. Must be getting some of that strength back.

“You’re gonna bruise me,” he chuckles.

“I’m not letting go,” she tells him, her voice a little less hoarse thanks to the water. “If you’re lying...bruises will be the least of your worries, _Paladin_.”

Keith is definitely her son, he thinks with a nervous laugh. The threats, the sarcasm in the way she called him Paladin. She doesn’t trust him. Doesn’t believe him. Which is fair, since she’s been interred in a prison being tortured and interrogated for almost twenty years. Lance wouldn’t trust the first person to come through that door either, no matter how handsome or charming.

She hears the clink of the bracelet on her wrist and those golden eyes widen. Immediately the bangle is brought to her eyes with shock, followed by disbelieving gasps as a smile forms. Her eyes well up with tears as she presses it to her lips. A few words are mumbled, nothing Lance understands except for the emotion behind them. Blessed relief.

“Did you--”

“Yeah. Figured you’d want that,” Lance answers and her grip softens a little.

It takes her a moment but she swallows and looks at it again before saying, “Thank you.”

She’s looking him over again, this time with a far more discerning eye. Like she’s breaking him down piece by piece. Starting from his feet and going up. She lingers on his injured side for a moment, cataloging it before moving on. Her eyes stop at his burned face with surprise, like it’s the first time she’s really seeing it.

“You’re--but you’re just a child...and you’re hurt,” she says, her voice a little softer and her grip loosens further. “Where are your parents?”

“Uh, on Earth?” he tells her like it’s obvious. “They...don’t know I’m here. And I’m eighteen, I’ll have you know.”

“A child,” she repeats with a smirk. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I didn’t want to be here, at first, but what we want isn’t always what we get,” he answers and then lets out a deep sigh. “I’m sure you understand that.”

Her smirk disappears as she looks down at her wrist. The golden bangle jangles a little as she moves it to her lips again. Thinking about the life that was stolen from her. All the things she missed. All the things that are gone. And how much she desperately wants to return to it all.

To Earth. To her husband. To Keith.

God Keith, he remembers smacking his forehead. He believes she’s dead, that she’s been dead for twenty odd years. What is he going to say? Going to do? How should they meet? One on one? Should he call Keith now and just tell him? Or...is this an in-person thing? He’s not sure how to handle this.

Before he can really ask what she’d like to do, Ghaythra passes out again. The conversation tired her out. He wraps a blanket around her and tells the nurse that he’s going to put her on the next transport vessel. They confirm before turning to focus on other patients. Lance picks her up again but takes her to his lion instead. He moved it into the hanger once the mission concluded earlier, in case of emergencies and what not. Don’t want to be unarmed if a fleet shows up.

Blue lowers her head to the ground and opens her mouth without a word from Lance. Once inside he gently places her on the floor in a spot that won’t get jostled too much from travel.

“Kolivan,” Lance calls into his coms. “I’m heading back to the castle early. Will your troops be okay without the blue lion here?”

A moment’s pause before answering.

“We have it handled,” he says. “Thank you for your help, fellow Blade.”

Lance beams, his smile spreads as wide as it can get. Blade. He’s a Blade! Wait till Keith hears! Er, well, it’ll probably pale in comparison to reuniting with his mom.

“Your work has been invaluable to the war effort,” Kolivan tells him. “We will have a proper ceremony for you at a later date. For now, celebrate as you see fit.”

“Yes sir,” Lance grins and takes his seat in the cockpit.

He sets up his controls, hits his buttons to home in on the castle, then boosts out of the hanger in seconds. With a few quick adjustments, Blue is set on autopilot which gives Lance time to think.

Keith’s in the middle of his search in the new quadrant for Shiro. He’s not even supposed to be back for another day. Should he send him a text about his mom? Feels like something that should be said in person, not over messages or video transmissions. Keith deserves more than just a ‘hey did you know your mom is totally alive?’

That being said...he won’t come back for any simple reason. He pulls out his token and rubs it between his thumbs with a sad smile. He’d insist on finishing his sweep, that stubborn guy.

“I’ll think of something,” Lance sighs and sits up, tucking his token away.

Not long into the trip does his side start to hurt again. His face too. Medication must be wearing off. By the time he’s approaching the castle his side is in agony but he keeps his face straight when a channel comes through from the castle. Pidge.

“You’re back fast, Lance,” Pidge smirks on the screen. “Did you--Oooo, your face...Keith’s gonna blow a gasket when he sees that.”

“What, you don’t think it makes me look tough?” Lance winces with a smile.

“Sorry Lance, but the only ones who look cool with badass battle wounds are Galra,” Hunk chuckles as he leans into the frame. “And she’s right. He’s not going to like that you were careless.”

“Who said I was careless?”

They both just give him deadpan are-you-kidding-me looks.  
  
“Fine, well, I’ll just jump into the healing pod then,” Lance mumbles. “Then he’ll never know.”

“Oh no, can’t let you get away without a scolding from Keith that easy,” Pidge announces and types away with a devious smile. “There. Message sent. Now he knows you’re back _early--_ and _with injuries_.”

“Aw, come on!” Lance whines. “Don’t tell him I got hurt! It makes me sound lame!”

Hunk leans back into the frame to read Pidge’s screen.

“Oh look at that...he replied so fast,” Hunk hums. “Says ‘That moron. Thanks for the heads up.’”

“That...sounds about right,” Lance sighs. “Will you guys meet me in the hanger?”

“Want me to carry you?” Hunk frowns with worry.

“No, it’s...complicated. I’ll see you in a few,” he says and closes out the channel.

A few minutes later he lands expertly in his hanger, his fellow Paladins waiting there for him. He gestures them up the ramp while holding his side. He’s going to need help carrying her now since everything hurts. They step up the ramp and once they reach the cockpit Lance gestures to a sleeping Ghaythra.

“Can you help carry her?” he asks.

“Who is she?” Pidge asks curiously as Hunk kneels down to scoop her up.

“Her face...she looks like…” Hunk mumbles but stops and looks to Lance for confirmation.

“It’s his mom,” Lance nods. “We broke her out of the prison.”

It's quiet for a moment but they nod in understanding.

“Where to?” Hunk asks as he lifts her easily.

“The common room? No,” Lance then shakes his head at his own suggestion. The last thing he wants is a dozen Blades swarming her once they recognize her. “We’ll take her to our room for now,” he settles.

“I’ll see if I can get her some clean clothes,” Pidge says as she splits off in another direction.

“Tell Allura and Coran,” Lance calls after her. “No one else. Not even Keith. Not yet.”

She nods and books it as fast as her little nerd legs will take her. Lance and Hunk slowly make their way down the halls. Slowly because Lance keeps dragging his feet a little. His injury isn’t making it easy for him to walk without constant grimacing. Damn, he needs more of whatever the Blades gave him.

The communicator goes off in the middle of the hall, the ring echoing off the halls. It’s Keith.

“That...took longer than I thought it would,” Lance admits with a smirk and then answers. “You've reached the one and only Lance McCl--”

“How bad is it?” Keith interrupts.

“I’m fine,” Lance assures him. “You’re talking to the first full-human Blade after all.”

“Lance,” he says in a warning tone.

“Jeez, I didn’t even bleed!” Lance tells him and it’s not a complete lie. The shots only seared off skin and blistered up horribly. Only hurts a lot. And if he doesn’t do something about them soon they are definitely going to scar. But he’s fine! “They barely shot me,” he adds but then wishes he hadn’t.

“You were shot?” Keith exclaims.

“Barely!”

“I’m on my way back now,” Keith tells him as he hits some buttons.

“Gonna nurse me back to health?” Lance insinuates with a grin and bites back a groan as a twinge of pain shoots through him. “Will you give me an injection? Wink wink.”

“Stop making jokes,” Keith says seriously. “Go rest. I’ll be there in less than two vargas.”

“Alright,” Lance says and rolls his eyes hard enough that he’s sure Keith feels it through the call. He hangs up and slides the communicator back into his belt.

They make it to the room and Lance hits the light while Hunk puts her down on their nicely made bed. He’s in the middle of popping a few pain pills when Pidge comes through the door with a handful of clothing. She dumps it all on the table in a messy pile before approaching the bed to look at Ghaythra again up close.

“The resemblance is eerie. Oh, Allura says she’ll be here soon,” she says.

“Great,” Lance says and joins them over her. “You two can help clean her up.”

Ghaythra stirs to the sound of multiple voices, her eyes opening in tired blinks. She takes a deep breath as she rubs her face. Her vision comes into focus on the faces around her and she reaches out. Hunk gives her a hand to help her sit up as she takes them in.

“Easy does it,” Hunk tells her.

“Humans, so many,” she says. “Is this--”

“It’s not Earth,” Lance says. “This is the castle. Kinda like home base.”

“We’re the Paladins of the yellow and green lions,” Hunk tells her. “I’m Hunk. This is Pidge.”

“More children,” she says with a sad smile.

“ _Paladins_ , ” Pidge corrects, adjusting her glasses, “and hardly children. We’re friends of Keith’s.”

“His friends? He’s...he’s here?” she asks and makes attempts at pulling herself up out of the bed but Hunk keeps her from going anywhere. “Why...why isn’t he on Earth? He’s...it isn’t safe out here. For any of you.”

“Don’t stand,” Hunk urges. “You don’t have the strength.”

“Keith’s fine,” Lance assures her. “He’s on his way back to the castle.”

“Yeah, he’s been spending all his off time looking for our leader Shiro,” Pidge explains and scrolls through her communicator. “Here,” she says as she passes the device into Ghaythra’s hand.

It’s a picture of the whole team back on Arus. Everyone in their armor and looking at the camera. Shiro in the center with a proud smile. Lance attempting something of a suave wink. Pidge with her glasses glossed over, hitting the light in a way to obscure her eyes. Hunk with an excited smile. And Keith giving the camera a haughty smirk.

“It’s an old picture but...the Paladins of Voltron,” Pidge tells her. “All from Earth. One in the center is Shiro.”

Lance taps the screen and points at Keith.

“That’s him. Keith,” he tells her in case it wasn’t immediately apparent. “But he looks a little different now.”

She takes him in and as her fingers rub against the screen fondly. Her son. All grown up and a warrior. Dark hair like hers. His father’s smirk. Confident bearing. Her eyes well up with tears but she lets out a little laugh. A happy one.

“He’s...a paladin,” she whispers and covers her mouth. “How...how old is he?”

“Nineteen. I think. We’ve been in space for a while. I think half of us have missed a birthday at this point,” Lance admits with a shrug.

“November just started,” Pidge tells him.

“He was born in October,” she says softly. “The 23rd.”

“That ass, he didn’t even tell us we skipped over his birthday,” Lance huffs. “We could have thrown a party. Music. Dancing. With some of that Olkari wine.”

“Keith hates that kind of thing,” Hunk chuckles. “Should probably still get him a gift though.”

They all look up at Ghaythra, an idea simultaneously forming in all their heads. They all grin their own breed of excited smiles. Hunk excuses himself politely and immediately books it out of the room, nearly crashing into Allura on his way to the kitchen. He apologizes but never stops running.

The princess’s eyes fall on Ghaythra and vice versa.

“Oh my,” Allura gasps and approaches. “It’s true!”

“An Altean?” Ghaythra blinks. “They’re...I thought--”

“No time for pleasantries!” Lance interrupts with a flourish and points at people. “Allura, you and Pidge help her clean up! I have to talk to Coran about a hologram!”

With that, he takes off down the hall as fast as his wounds will allow.

*****

Keith takes a deep calming breath as he flies into the hanger. How bad is Lance’s injury? He wouldn’t put it past Lance to downplay the damage, just so he wouldn’t freak out but...he said he was shot! How is Keith supposed to react to that?

He fiddles with the token around his neck nervously but manages to stop fretting once he lands. Through the outer cameras, he sees the blue paladin on the ground waving with a smile so Keith lets out a relieved breath. Lance looks pretty cheerful, maybe he worried for nothing.

Regardless, he climbs down from the lion quickly and rushes up to Lance to see for himself. A bandage on his face. And he’s favoring one side over the other as he walks. Smells like...burned flesh and a little like pus. That brings that worry back.

“Told you I was fine,” he says, hands on his hips.

“Are you going to get it treated?” Keith asks as he peels back the bandage from his face carefully to look at it. The smell is...ugh. He grimaces and puts it back.

“What, you don’t think it makes me look cool? Tough?” Lance asks as he strikes a pose.

“It might get infected if you leave it too long,” he warns and grabs his elbow to start dragging him. “We’re going to the pod now.”

“No, no, no,” Lance says and pulls out of his hold with a wince. “There’s something I want to show you.”

“It can’t wait until you’re healed?” Keith frowns and crosses his arms.

“No, it can’t,” Lance says and pulls something from his pocket. The blindfold? “Put this on.”

“Lance,” Keith huffs, not in the mood for this kind of play.

“It’s for a birthday present, Keith. Now put it on,” Lance insists with a shake.

A birthday present?

Keith looks down at the cloth perplexed. It can’t be October already, can it? Have they really been gone that long? Lance has to know he doesn’t do parties but he’s biting his lips, barely able to contain his excitement. Oh boy.

Better to get it over with quickly. The sooner he does the sooner he can hurry Lance along to the med bay. With a sigh, he takes it and begins tying it in place.

“If I walk into a room and everyone screams ‘surprise’ I’m leaving and shoving you into a healing pod before returning to my search,” Keith tells him.

Lance directs him down a couple of halls and turns them around a couple of times. Probably to disorient him. He’d think Lance would know that this doesn’t work anymore. Kitchens. Common room. Passing by the engine room. Then they stop and Lance opens a door Keith’s not familiar with. What part of the castle are they in?

“A few more steps and...stop,” Lance tells him. “There are two gifts for you actually. This is the first one. Surprise.”

Lance pulls the blindfold off and Keith opens his eyes blinking with confusion before he recognizes his surroundings with a gasp. How did Lance manage to make it look so accurate? The temperature even feels right. And the stars too?

“This is--”

“It’s your old house from Earth,” Lance nods with a pleased grin. “A hologram but...I used all those pictures in your data files to have Coran construct it for you.”

The warps in the wood. The scratches on the door. The broken fence at the edge of the property. Even the hill that he liked to sit on to stargaze. Everything is there.

There’s a blanket at the top of the hill with a handful of snacks and drinks. His electronic copy of his book sits on the edge. Even sounds like there’s a radio on inside the shack playing some music. Otherwise, it’s calm with the sound of baying coyotes in the distance.

He never thought he’d miss this place. Just the two of them? Eating dinner under the stars? Of course, he wouldn’t throw a big loud party for him. Lance knows him better than that. Keith looks over at him with an appreciative smile.

“This is great,” Keith admits.

"Worth taking a break for?"

Keith nods. “Best birthday surprise I’ve ever had."

“I still have one more present,” Lance tells him. “But wait here okay? It’s a big one. Maybe uh, sit on the blanket. And don’t peek until I say so!”

Keith rolls his eyes but nods and climbs up the hill as Lance goes out the door. He takes a seat and palms one of the snacks on the plate before tossing it into his mouth. A pastry and tastes like that sweet syrup from before. Must be Hunk’s contribution to his birthday. Did everyone pitch in for this?

Man, he’s going to have to thank them all later. After he beds Lance mercilessly on this hill.

His ears flick back when the door opens again but he doesn’t look. Instead, he eats another pastry and looks up at the stars as he tries to guess what the gift is from his senses.

Must be heavy as there are two sets of footsteps. So two people are carrying it. A cake? Keith not so subtly tries to smell the air to guess. Hmm. Just smells like Lance and another Galra. The scent is familiar but he can’t pinpoint it. It’s not Danske or Natsuri. Not Korok. Sure is taking them a while to get there though.

Right. Lance is hurt after all. Despite Lance’s instructions to wait, Keith stands and turns to offer his assistance.

“You need help carrying--”

The sentence cuts off in his throat as his eyes blow wide open. The words are gone. Nothing comes out, he can’t manage a sound as his breath catches and his mouth goes dry. His legs. Why are his legs shaking? And his heart--it’s racing so fast. He can feel it thrumming in his ears. Is he breathing? He can’t tell. He very nearly chokes when he tries to take in a breath.

“You peeked,” Lance sighs but smiles. “Happy Birthday Keith.”

He almost can’t comprehend what he’s seeing.

She has to be real, he can smell her from there. A woman with an arm hooked around Lance’s shoulder for support.  Dark wild hair cut to her shoulders. Purple skin littered with scars he’s seen only in his data files. And a bright smile as tears stream from her golden eyes and down her scarred cheeks.  

Keith’s eyes flick to the bangle around her wrist. He’s seen it before. Around his father’s hand. But nothing shakes him to his core as much as when she speaks. He never thought he’d hear her voice; not like this.

“Keith,” she calls to him.

He takes slow steps forward in a daze. Once he gets close his eyes look over her face. Can this really be her? He cautiously reaches out, as if afraid it’s not real, and runs a strand of dark soft hair through his fingers. It’s...like another distant memory and his heart aches at the feeling. He’s felt this before.

All these years. He didn’t dare to hope but...

“It is you,” he whispers, his voice cracking as his eyes well up. “Mom?”

She nods and all at once he embraces her, wraps his arms tight around her and finally he feels like he’s breathing again. She does the same, holding him close and burying her tear-stained face in his neck. Lance doesn’t even have to hold her anymore, Keith’s got her and he’s not letting go anytime soon, even as they sink to the ground.

“You’re--you were--” Keith gasps through his sobs. He can’t even get a complete sentence out before another bursts from his mouth. “I never thought--How--”

“Not a day went by that I didn’t think about you, my little sapling,” she says, petting his head and smiling through her tears. “I missed you so much. My little Keith. You’re so big now.”

He’s never felt smaller than in that moment in her arms. Like a child. Feels like he’s really home again. God, he could bawl for another hour. How can someone so happy want to cry so much? The sound of someone blowing their nose obscenely loud stops his crying for a second. They’re not alone he remembers as he looks for the source.

It’s Lance trying to hide behind a handkerchief as his eyes well up with tears. It’s so overly dramatic that with anyone else he’d think they were mocking them. But not Lance. He’s genuinely just as emotional about it. It makes Ghaythra chuckle a little as Keith sniffs and pulls his paladin glove off to wipe his face to smile at Lance too.

“I calculated a touching reunion but man...am I bad at math,” Lance says as he blows his nose a second time. “Think I’ll go and uh--You guys just keep--”

“What are you talking about?” Keith clears his throat with a laugh. “You...moron. You did _this_. You can’t leave.”

“No, I’m gonna,” Lance insists and turns to go. “Need to hit up a healing pod anyway.”

“Wait.”

Keith squeezes his mother’s hand and tells her he’ll be right back. She nods with an understanding smile as he stands. He takes off down the hill and catches Lance by the shoulder. Pulls him into a hold, encircling his arms around Lance’s neck and pressing their lips together for a long deep kiss. It’s enough to make Lance sigh and his cheeks flush pink.

When he releases him Lance whispers, “Um...your mom just watched you very enthusiastically stick your tongue down my throat.”

“So? Is that bad?”

“Well, she just shot me a thumbs up soooo...” Lance says and they both snort out a laugh. “...probably not. I think I get the Galra mom seal of approval. For now.”

“Yeah, better not screw it up,” Keith smirks but then his eyes soften. They’re welling up again with all his overflowing emotions and he doesn’t even care that Lance is seeing him cry. “This...Thank you for this, Lance. I didn’t think I’d ever--”

“It’s about time you got something back,” Lance smiles. He thumbs away a fat tear and kisses his cheek. Keith tries to smile and gives him another squeeze that Lance returns.

“I don’t know how you did this. It was _impossible_ ,” Keith whispers weakly, on the verge of tears again. “I love you, Lance. I’ll never forget this.”

He almost jokes. Almost does a ‘haha, you love me, loser’ but he doesn’t. Instead, he holds him close and pets his hair. Even plants a chaste kiss on his head.

“Love you too,” he smiles back and gives him a gentle shove. “Now, go hang out with your mom. You guys have a lot of catching up to do. Here take these handkerchiefs--I brought like eight. Hope that’s enough.”

He shoves them all into creases of Keith’s armor one by one as Keith pulls them back out into his hands with a disbelieving chuckle. Lance then gives him another shove in the right direction. Keith levels another smile at him before running back to help his mother up the rest of the hill to their picnic.

Lance grins at the sight before closing the door to let mother and son talk in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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